Of Auror Missions and Love
by Tisha Yoon
Summary: Five former death eaters have escaped Azkaban and it is up to Harry and his elite team of Aurors to bring them back in. But how could they accomplish anything if all his team members are pre-occupied by their own lives?
1. A Long Day at Headquarters

**Disclaimer:** J.K. Rowling owns the whole Harry Potter world. I just like to put them in other strange situations such as the one you're about to read.

**A/N:** Well, I know I promised a sequel of the story Taming Ginny Weasley. I'm still working on that one. But this plot bunny was too nice to pass up so I decided to pursue it first. Hopefully TGW readers won't throw furniture at me for posting this instead of what I promised them. Don't worry, TGW2 is in the works, I just needed to get this one out so I can write TGW2 and The Little Things better. Speaking of TLT, it's nearing the end. All readers of TLT, please be patient, I've finished Chapter 30 already and then I will be working on the Epilogue after I post this. Then I'll just send it to my beta and poof! it's finally done! Hope you guys enjoy and support this one like you did my other fics.

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**Chapter 1 - A Long Day at Headquarters**

"This is going to be a long day," Harry murmured to himself as he surveyed the room.

They were on a mission, a very important mission. And it required every ounce of their attention and concentration. But today, it was too much to ask of his team.

On some sort of irritating whim, Ginny had chosen that day to show Hermione her newest ad. It would have been fine if the ad had her wearing something decent to cover her body fully, but no. That was too much to ask of Ginevra Molly Prewett Weasley, supermodel and spokesperson of many brands including Lavender Hush, an underwear line for which the ad was made for. It had to be something sexy; something that would make women blush with envy; something that would make her brothers blow off their tops.

That was why Ron was blowing his redheaded top off to Timbuktu right now. Her very sexy, make-your-momma-proud-of-what-she-gave-you ad was the reason why they couldn't concentrate on their oh-so-important mission.

He sighed. "It's really going to be a long day."

Scanning the room again, he rolled his eyes in irritation while looking at how Hermione had effectively blocked out her fiancé's and soon-to-be sister-in-law's voices: by plugging in headphones, probably turned on to some sappy love song with the volume in maximum level. Blaise was missing, the siblings were still going at it and Draco Malfoy lay on the couch, gleefully viewing the magazine where Ginny's ad was plastered.

If someone had told him eight years ago that he would be working alongside Draco Malfoy on a team, he would have rolled on the Forbidden Forest's floor and laughed his ass off. But eight years was too long a time for a person to bear grudges and not change. Now, he was rather pleased to have both Blaise and Draco on his team. The two Slytherins were good in their fields and while they still have their frequent fights, all of them could say that they're pretty comfortable with each other.

As they should really be. Their job included watching for each other and saving each other's butts.

How did it all happen?

After the war at Hogwarts, many of the students who had survived, thought being Aurors was their destiny. They could all still feel the victory and the urge and spirit to fight was still strongly there, as well as the desire to rid the magical world of bad wizards and witches and take revenge for the thousands of people they cared about that perished in the war.

So after returning to school and graduating, Harry and many of his batch mates who wanted to be Aurors went to Auror training and graduated. Ginny, who finished Hogwarts the same year they graduated from training, also wanted to be an Auror and went in to the training program while Harry and the others got into their first year of being full-fledged Aurors. Harry was naturally partnered with Ron, Draco was partnered with Blaise and Hermione was assigned to the research team with Neville, Seamus and Hannah Abbot. When Ginny had graduated from Auror training, Blaise had decided to take up the offer of Bill Weasley to be a curse and charm breaker as he was always a good Charms student, leaving Draco partnerless. Ginny was assigned to be his partner and to everyone's understandable surprise, they seemed to work well together, despite constant bickering.

After two years, Ginny, Draco, Blaise, Ron and Hermione resigned as Aurors. Ginny pursued modeling, Draco and Blaise needed to manage their family businesses, Hermione went into healer training and Ron was wooed by the Canons to play as their Keeper, replacing Oliver Wood who was getting married. Harry remained as an Auror, promoted as the Head of Classified Missions Investigations Team.

So why in the world were they all gathered inside this room, handling a case as important as defeating Voldemort, when they weren't even all Aurors anymore, with one being a Healer, another a famous Quidditch player, two were cunning businessmen handling a cauldron company and a potions company and the last a supermodel?

Because even though they were now busy with different fields, the ministry couldn't help but admit that the six of them were the best investigative Aurors they have ever had since the Potters, the Longbottoms, the Weasleys and Sirius Black. So for top secret cases, the ministry calls them in, knowing that their expertise was needed in their more sensitive cases.

And such was this case.

Harry's hand itched to get his wand and cast a spell, any spell, to stop the two redheaded Weasleys from shouting but he knew he would be in deep trouble if he did. Ginny Weasley's temper, combined with her perfected hexes, was not something he wanted to bask on. So he sighed. He loved both of them dearly, they're like his brother and sister after all, but sometimes, he longed to sew their mouths shut and enjoy the silence.

"Guys," he tried weakly, only to be drowned out by Ron's growl.

"Malfoy!" he said, stomping over the blond whose eyes were still glued in the magazine. He grabbed the magazine from the grinning Malfoy, who had sat up on the couch, looking over Ginny Weasley whose eyes were fired up, hands on waist and red in the face.

Ron took his wand from his robes and with a flick, the magazine burned up. Ginny stomped over to him, wand drawn, but Draco had been quicker. He got up, calmly walked over his partner and intercepted her before she got to his brother. Hermione looked up, sighed, plucked her headphones from her ears and stomped over her fiancé's side.

"Ron, Ginny, calm down," Hermione sternly said.

Harry watched as Ron stopped berating Ginny and turned all soft-purring kitten-y while Hermione talked to him. He rolled his eyes at his two best friends' backs and turned to the other occupants in the room, Draco and Ginny.

Harry bit down the snort that threatened to come out of his mouth. The sexual tension between the two was almost as thick as Hagrid's brother's arm. Draco was whispering in Ginny's ear, his hand had somehow gotten her wand from her and was now twirling it by his fingers. His other hand was on her waist, drawing calming circles on it by his thumb. Ginny was frowning but listening. Her hands were crossed in front of her but her rigid form had softened somehow.

Harry knew there was something going on between the two, but right now, they had more problems to face.

"Where's Blaise?" Ginny said as Draco led her to the couch. She plopped down on it, arms still crossed. She crossed her right leg over the other as she looked from left to right.

'Probably enjoying somewhere peaceful,' Harry thought.

Aloud he said, "I don't know," he sighed. "Are you guys ready to listen to the mission brief now?"

Hermione glared at Ron before nodding at Harry.

"Shouldn't we wait for Blaise first?" Draco asked from his seat beside Ginevra. His right arm was extended on the couch's back rest, behind Ginny, legs also crossed arrogantly.

"Right," Harry nodded. He got out a small mirror from his desk and called out Blaise's name. After telling the black-haired man to get back to headquarters, he put it down.

In a few minutes, the door opened and in came Blaise Zabini.

"I see the war had stopped," he grinned at the lot. Ron and Ginny glared at him as Draco rolled his eyes.

"A very supportive team member you are," Draco said dryly.

"Yes. I didn't think Ronald would have been too pleased if I stayed and ogled at his sister's picture like you probably did. Although I must say, when I saw the billboard, I…"

"Billboard!" Ron roared. "You have a billboard?"

Harry sighed.

It's really going to be a long day.

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**A/N:** So, how was it? My third fan fic,! Haha! It was inspired by the fanfic Ginnugagap by Aimsaru and Reclamation Cooperation by Persephone 33. I suggest you read them. They're really very good fics!


	2. Dementor Holiday

**Disclaimer:** J.K. Rowling owns the whole Harry Potter world. I just like to put them in other strange situations such as the one you're about to read.

**A/N:** Hi guys! Haha! I'm glad people liked the first chapter. Hope you all stick with it until it finishes. Anyway, this story by the way isn't a hard-core DG fic. So don't expect too much Draco and Ginny scenes. It's about their little elite team of aurors and how they solve the work despite conflicts with their personal lives. The chapter you're about to read is more about their work. I'm taking my time with this one. Hope you'll enjoy!

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**Chapter 2 - Dementor Holiday**

Blaise groaned out loud as soon as Harry said the news.

'It was supposed to be finished,' he thought, smacking his forehead with his palms and shaking his head.

Everyone around him was feeling frustrated too. The elite members of the Classified Missions Investigations Team all gathered around their own version of a meeting table: a low wooden coffee table surrounded by two sofas and an armchair.

Harry sat on the armchair, being the head of their team. He was quietly taking in their reactions: Ginny was looking far from the supermodel she was with her paled face and a jaw that almost hit the ground; Draco, who was beside her, had slouched uncharacteristically on his seat, both his arms spread on the sofa's backrest, legs spread apart and head turned up, as if willing the ceiling to tell him that everything he heard was a joke; Blaise, who was on the other sofa opposite the two had his face burrowed in his palms, shaking his head forcibly, not wanting to believe it; Hermione looked angry and was glaring at the tea cups on the coffee table and Harry could almost see the wheels of her brain turning as she racked it for a logical explanation to explain what happened; and Ron, who sat beside Blaise and Hermione, was looking at Harry with disbelief, his mouth opening and closing like a fish's.

"Let me get this straight," Draco finally broke the silence. He was still sitting with arms and legs wide open but he now looked at Harry. "You're saying that five Death Eaters have escaped Azkaban?"

Harry nodded. "That's right."

"All five of them escaped last night?" Draco prodded.

"Yes."

"But how?" Draco moved straighter. He leaned forward, looking incredibly pissed off. "Aren't Dementors supposed to be keeping them all in?"

"No one has ever escaped Azkaban aside from Sirius, Harry," Ginny supplied. "And you and Hermione had to help him. Well, excluding Bellatrix and the others several years ago, because they were aided by the Dementors under Voldemort's control back then. But we all know Voldemort's gone Harry."

Harry nodded and pinched the bridge of his nose. "I know."

"And since we all know how dedicated you are in your work," Blaise dryly added. "We know you couldn't have helped them out."

"Gee, thanks Blaise. That's really nice," Harry said, rolling his eyes. "Makes me feel a whole lot better.

"Maybe Hermione did it?" Blaise joked.

"Very cute, Zabini," Hermione rolled her eyes.

He shrugged. "I do try."

"Anyway," Harry injected, before another verbal combat ensue. They had already wasted enough time listening to Ginny and Ron's quarrel and they really needed to get back on track. "To answer Draco's question of how they got out of Azkaban, well, actually, it had everything to do with the Dementors."

The others leaned forward to hear the explanation. See, when Harry's face gets all serious, they know better than not listen.

"Every eight years, Dementors leave Azkaban for some unknown reason," Harry paused expecting a reaction from his audience. And it came as he calculated it to come.

"What!" came the collected reaction from the group around Harry. "Why?"

Harry sighed. "Nobody really knows. But somehow they take it upon themselves to gather somewhere every eight years. At least that's what research tells us from their file."

"Is that even legal?" Ginny blurted, her pale face had reddened, signifying anger. "Why doesn't the Ministry do anything about it? Do they even know?"

"Yes, they do. In fact, these researches from Neville and his team, he got it from Ministry files. Top-secret section."

"And they didn't do anything about it?" Draco asked. His arm had somehow gotten on Ginny's shoulder and was caressing it again to calm her down. Ron didn't seem to notice as he was staring at Harry.

"Actually they did," Harry said. "But somehow the five had escaped even if Shacklebolt had sent extra guards over to Azkaban."

"Guards?" Blaise asked. "Shacklebolt sent guards, instead of aurors?"

"Yes," Harry pinched the bridge of his nose again and squeezed his eyes shut.

"Why?" Blaise said in a still disbelieving tone. "He's smarter than that."

"Blaise, you do know where all the other aurors were last night," Harry reminded him.

Last night was the first day of the IMOMAC or the International Ministers of Magic's Annual Conference. All Ministers of Magic from different magical countries have arrived last night, needing the presence of every auror in the country. As they were only part-time aurors, they were not asked to be present. It was after all, not a classified, top-secret mission. So Blaise and Draco had attended to some overseas business meeting, Ginny was in Muggle London, and Ron and Hermione were in Canada visiting her parents.

"Then why didn't he let us know?" Blaise asked.

"Yeah, Harry. Besides," Ron nodded. "I'm sure you knew about this so why didn't you tell us and arranged for a look-out?"

Harry sighed, which he had been doing many times that night. "I didn't know anything until Shacklebolt had taken me aside and told me at the receiving party last night, or rather at three this morning. He actually berated me for being there instead of being at Azkaban."

"You didn't know?" Hermione finally joined the interrogation. "Nobody told you that a possible break out can occur because Dementors have their scheduled day off last night?"

For a while nobody talked, Harry and Ron looked at each other. Harry then looked at the others, and seeing enough in their minds, Harry couldn't help but burst out laughing. Soon the others joined him except Hermione who was now scowling.

"What's so funny?" Hermione murmured.

Her answer was another round of rambunctious laughter and Hermione sighed again. "Someone please tell me what is bloody funny, or I'll all hex you to next Friday!"

Hermione waited until their laughter subsided. She could see them gasping out for breaths and wiping their eyes of tears.

"Well?" she prodded.

Taking a deep breath, Ginny stilled her giggles and looked at Hermione. She decided she'll have to answer the girl. Their more immature teammates would probably just laugh again if they tried anyway.

"Well, 'Mione. What's funny is that—"

"Dementors in a salon!" burst Ron.

The boys snorted with laughter again. They were all clutching their stomachs, filling the room with their loud laughter. Boys.

"Dementors…nails done!" continued Malfoy.

"And 'hair' permed," Harry said with fingers punctuating the word hair with quotes.

"Shopping!" gasped out Blaise.

And the laughter escalated once more.

Ginny swore she'll not laugh but when the boys started wheezing out words in between laughter and snorts, she couldn't help but join in.

"Day-off!"

"…swimming…in bikinis…"

"Or massage…stone therapy."

"…spa…haha!"

"Dementor…resort…"

Hermione's patience disappeared and she growled out, "Silencio!"

It was fun to watch five grown adults, bent over and shaking with laughter but not making a sound but Hermione didn't find them amusing. She threatened to cast a binding spell at them, so the five started composing themselves.

When they had all stopped, Hermione asked if they were ready to continue. They nodded and Hermione casted the counter-spell.

"Harry?" she said sternly.

"Right," Harry grinned apologetically. "Uh, where was I?"

"Dementor resort?" Blaise snorted out. He raised her hands in surrender when Hermione pointed a wand at him. "Alright, alright. I'll stop. Jeez."

"Why weren't you informed Harry?" Ron asked. "Shacklebolt should have at least let you know."

"He did," Harry turned serious again. "The message just didn't reach me."

"Why?"

"Well, you know how busy Shacklebolt is with the IMOMAC and the nearing MOM elections," Harry told them.

"Yeah. Did he accept the position as candidate for MOM already?" asked Ginny.

Harry shook his head. "No. That's why they're wooing your father now, Gin."

"Oh," Ginny said. She had been out of the wizarding community for a week due to a modeling stint in Muggle London. Fashion Week had just ended last night. "Dad's getting wooed for office?"

"Seems like it."

"So what does that have to do with you not knowing?" Draco asked.

"Well, Shacklebolt sent someone to tell me to go to Azkaban with you guys instead of talking to me in person."

"But?"

"But Graham didn't pass it on," Harry finished.

"Graham? Graham Titus?" Draco's eyes widened. When Harry nodded he breathed a sigh of apprehension. "But the guy hates us!"

"Yeah. That he does," Blaise nodded. "I thought Shacklebolt knew everything that went on inside the headquarters. He shouldn't have given the message to him."

"Well, I don't know why, but he did. And Titus didn't."

Graham Titus had always hated their team. It started way back in auror training. Titus was from Durmstrang and he prided his dueling spells as students from Beauxbatons prided their charms. So there was no surprise that Titus threw a fit when Harry had won against him at a mock duel. As it turned out, Titus was also beaten by Ron at an impromptu game of Wizard's chess three times in a row. Hermione's strategy was picked over his during a Mock-Missions class. Blaise, whom he tried to beat during a game of exploding snaps, had won every single time. Blaise once gave his winnings back to Titus but the boy took offense, saying he wasn't poor and could certainly afford to pay him any amount.

During all these, Draco hadn't really paid attention to the boy as Titus had known better but to mess with a Malfoy. But when Ginny came into the picture Titus began hating them too. He had tried wooing Ginny but the girl was hard to get. After a very humiliating experience with her in the MOM elevators, he had witnessed Draco Malfoy and Ginny Weasley kissing passionately inside their offices.

When Shacklebolt announced the existence of Classified Missions Investigations Team or The CMI team, he had been one of those who reacted against it. And why not? The people they're putting in the team weren't aurors anymore, and really, those people were everyone he hated.

"So Titus didn't tell you about it?" Ginny asked, flame-eyed.

"Yes. And you all know why," Harry said.

"I'm still curious why he hates us so much," Ron asked thoughtfully.

"Well, everyone here has beaten him one way or the other."

"So?" Ron shrugged. "You beat him at duel, I beat him at Wizard's chess. Hermione's strategy was picked over his at Missions and Blaise won at cards. That happens to people everytime."

"Not all on the same person," Draco answered.

Ron eyed him. "Well, what game did he lose to you by the way? I can't remember you saying anything about it."

Draco and Ginny looked at each other.

They, of course, couldn't answer. Draco had beaten Titus into getting Ginny, and Ginny had turned him down.

"And you too, Gin."

"Erm…"

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**A/N:** Special thanks to my reviewers: **Cat**, **wrenbailey**, **FireStar** and **Dracoginnylover24****.**


	3. The Trouble Kissing Causes

**Disclaimer:** J.K. Rowling owns the whole Harry Potter world. I just like to put them in other strange situations such as the one you're about to read.

**A/N:** Wow! I'm so happy to find so many reviews for just two chapters! I'm so glad and thankful to all of you right now. Anyway, here's a D/G part in return of the wonderful reviews you all gave this fic! I know you'll all want to know what really happened between them. Don't worry I'll reveal them soon.

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**Chapter 3 – The Trouble Kissing Causes**

"Well?" Ron asked.

"Erm," Draco and Ginny both answered. They could not meet anyone's eyes.

Harry, Blaise and Hermione were sneering having figured out what happened.

"Yeah, Draco," Harry jeered. "What exactly happened between you and Gin…I mean, Titus?" he asked, making Blaise and Hermione snort with controlled laughter.

Draco and Ginny glared at Harry.

"I beat him in Quidditch," Draco answered after a while.

"Oh," Ron nodded. "Isn't he beater? Or does he double as a Seeker?"

Snorts from the three were heard.

"I don't know. He just came up and challenged me to a game."

"Ah, and Gin?" he said, turning to Ginny.

"Oh, I kinda turned him down," Ginny answered, then nibbled on her lip. It was half-true anyway.

"He asked you on a date?" Ron's eyes went large.

"Uh, yeah. Something like that," Ginny nodded. _Actually, a tumble in bed was the real offer._ However, she would never tell him that. Aloud she added, "I kinda did it in front of a few people and his pride got hurt." Which was also true, they were inside an elevator when he asked.

"Good job, Ginny!" Ron nodded. "He's not the type you'll bring home to Mum and Dad, anyway."

Snorts again.

"So," Ginny injected. "How did the convicts got out?" she asked, shifting the conversation to safer grounds.

Harry sneered at her before answering. "According to research, they were all Animaguses."

Everyone nodded in understanding.

"Probably unregistered," Blaise said.

Harry nodded back.

"So you mean to say, that as we speak, no one but Shacklebolt's guards are looking after Azkaban?" Draco said, suddenly remembering the lack of Dementors in the prison.

"No, the Dementors just go for at least an hour every eight years and they get back at Azkaban again," Harry said, grinning as Blaise's face became animated.

"Wow, they'll have to be fast shoppers to finish in time then," Blaise laughed. "That's eight years worth of shopping in just one hour!"

"Zabini!"

"Chill, Granger."

"Would you just stop making fun of it?"

"No."

"Sil-," Hermione started, pointing a wand at the grinning Zabini.

"Hermione!" Harry stopped her. "Please. Let's just all finish this quietly."

"Well, that's what I was trying to do!" Hermione snapped. "If this guy won't shut up, I'll not hesitate again."

Harry turned to Blaise with pleading eyes. "Would you stop?"

Blaise acted as if he was thinking about it.

"Zabini!"

"Fine!" Zabini muttered. "Honestly, there's no fun in this team."

"If you want to have fun, why don't you go home," Hermione said against clenched teeth. "And play with your sons!"

Blaise just grinned. "Why Granger, do I dare say that you're jealous because I have children?"

They went on for several minutes, with Blaise teasing Hermione's current bout of baby lust, which had been going on since she and Ron announced their engagement six months ago. In the end, it was both Blaise and Hermione who ended up being charmed with Silencio and a body-binding spell by Ginny.

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After their meeting, Draco proposed they all eat dinner together but Blaise declined, saying he wanted to spend his first night back in London with his family. Harry had also pleaded off, as he had promised his wife that he'll be home tonight. Ron and Hermione haven't unpacked their suitcases and packages from Canada yet, so they decided to have a quiet takeout dinner at Hermione's flat.

That left Ginny and Draco alone for dinner, which was really Draco's goal that night. He couldn't very well ask Ginny out in front of her brother and he was thankful that both Blaise and Harry had already married and had filial duties to attend to. He had also calculated Ron and Hermione's reactions as he knew they both went straight to headquarters from Canada when they received Harry's owl so overall, everything was right on track. Draco hadn't seen Ginny for a week and he had terribly missed her.

"Where do you want to eat?" asked Draco, as Ginny gathered her purse from the coffee table.

Ginny shrugged. "I don't know," she answered. "You thought about this anyway. Why don't you surprise me?"

Draco rolled his eyes. "The last time I did that, you said the food was bland. And before that, you quarreled with the maitre'd."

"Because he was giving me perverted looks all night," Ginny said, shrugging out of her Ministry issue robes and handing them to Draco, who placed them on the couch.

"So where do you want to eat?"

Ginny faced him, grinned and patted his cheek. "Indian food would be nice."

* * *

Draco sat in front of Ginny at Patil's, an Indian restaurant co-owned by their schoolmates Padma and Parvati. The lights were low and everything was in bright, bold colors, predominantly magenta, deep purple, royal blue and olive green. Indian trance music floated from the background and the place smelled pleasantly of curry and other spices. Not many people were inside the restaurant, as the usual dinnertime was at 7 o' clock and it was already 9:30.

Ginny shrugged out of her stylish green robes, having discarded her Auror uniform back at headquarters. Being CMI Aurors, they weren't supposed to reveal their identities as one. Most people knew that they were former Aurors but as CMI is a secret agency, they do not know of its existence. The only ones who knew about the group were their co-Aurors, the people who worked in the defense and intelligence section of the Ministry and some high-ranking officials, all sworn to keep the CMI a secret.

"So, what do you suppose we do tomorrow?" she asked Draco, talking about their mission.

Back at CMI headquarters, Harry had told them the details of the breakout. Being unregistered Animaguses, the five convicts' escape were made easy. The cells of Azkaban, they had learned, actually had no magical protection spells, aside from the specific key each door has. The guards assigned to watch over them kept these keys. It would be hard to guess who of the many guards have the right key as each guard kept one key for a door and guarded another. Aside from that, there were no stairs leading up to the prisoner cells. You either have to fly up, be a guard with special apparition necklaces or a Dementor.

In Sirius' case, Harry and Hermione had flown over with Buckbeak, and Hermione had stolen the correct key from the right guard after realizing a pattern.

One of the advantages of having Dementors around to watch over Azkaban was that their powers null the morphing abilities of an Animagus. Therefore, it had been clear to the CMI Team that the five knew of what Blaise had officially labeled as Dementor's Day Off.

They had already eliminated the possibility of coincidence. Moreover, being inside the cells all these years, they wouldn't know how to solve the pattern of the key as Hermione did. It only meant that the five knew of the said Day Off beforehand.

It was also important to note that if a person would know how to escape Azkaban, then many people would probably be trying to go out every eight years. That was why the file was in the Top-secret Section of the Ministry library. Top-secret Section was only open to the head of the research team, the head of the Auror team and after its creation, the CMI. That means, only the CMI, Neville, Shacklebolt and the author of the book knew about such occurrence.

"_Who wrote the article anyway?" Hermione asked when Harry raised his thoughts to them._

_Harry scanned the papers Neville had given them. "No by-line."_

_Ron groaned. "It could be anyone."_

"_Actually if Harry said that Neville got it from the Top-secret Section then that meant the more important wizard or witches scholars could have written it," Hermione said thoughtfully._

"_Hermione, how many important scholars does our world have exactly?" Ron asked, rolling his eyes._

"_Many," Hermione nodded. "The only way to find out is to do the research by ourselves."_

_The five groaned when they heard the word research from Hermione's lips. Of the six of them, Hermione is the only one who enjoys that kind of work. If the five were to research on something, they would always go right in to the scene and investigate there._

_Hermione grinned. "Don't worry, I wouldn't dream of putting you up with the books."_

_The five breathed sighs of relief._

"_While Hermione does the research," Harry said, turning to the others. "I'm going to the cells in Azkaban to check out what really happened and do some questioning. I need you to come with me Blaise."_

_Blaise nodded. In their little team, Blaise is the expert in determining what kind of magic was used in a crime. As the official charm and curse breaker of their team, it is his job to give a name to the curse, or charm, used and know what the appropriate spell would be used to counter it._

"_I can't go to duty tomorrow, by the way," Ron said. "I have practice with the Canons."_

_Harry nodded. "That's alright. Gin, Draco," he turned to the other two. "I'll need you to find out where the five's houses are. They might come back to them. Plant some ferns around for surveillance too. Find out where their families are staying and plant ferns around their houses just in case they go to them."_

_Draco nodded at him. "When do you want us to start?"_

"_Up to you," Harry shrugged. "Just make sure you'll have the ferns planted in two days."_

_Draco had wanted to go to Azkaban to question the guards himself, but he knew Potter was putting him in an assignment that suits him best. Being a son of a former Death Eater, he would know where the houses of his father's ex-comrades were._

_Harry had also asked his permission to heighten the security at the Manor, the former headquarters of Voldemort's army for fear of the Death Eaters using it again. The Manor was currently empty, as Draco preferred to live in his flat in London rather than in the Manor. His parents were touring abroad, with Lucius' mind being altered at his request, erasing his recollections of being a Death Eater to start anew._

"Where do you want to start?" asked Ginny, before taking a bite of her Tandoori Chicken.

"You mean the houses or the food?" Draco grinned, enjoying the way she ate. One would think Ginny would eat like a bird, as she was a supermodel and her current clients demanded her body to stay in shape. But having grown up in the Burrow, with a great cook like Molly for a mother and having to fight off six brothers to get her share of food, not to mention playing Quidditch since she was a child, Ginny ate like she can't eat tomorrow.

Ginny rolled her eyes at him. "The houses, of course."

"Oh, well, I must admit, the houses I have actually been at before were Karkaroff's and the Carrows'," he replied.

The five convicts who had escaped had very much alarmed all of them. Igor Karkaroff, the Russian headmaster of Durmstrang, had been convicted of Imperiusing some of his students to offer them at Voldemort's service. He was a crow in his Animagus form. The Carrows, Alecto and Amycus were both thrown into Azkaban for their active participation in the Battle of Hogwarts and turns into a squirrel and a bee respectively. Yaxley, who had suffered greatly at the Final Battle was also arrested for the same reasons as the Carrows and can turn himself into a sparrow. The last one, Dolores Umbridge, who had Harry, Ron and Hermione seething, was captured after leading some Death Eaters to the killing of several centaurs in the Forbidden Forest that same night. She, interestingly, turns into a toad and that had everyone at the table laughing.

"Karkaroff and the Carrows, huh?" Ginny said, peering at him as she drank her chai. "How'd you know about their houses?"

"Father had some business back then in Russia and he took me there once," Draco answered. "After his meetings, Karkaroff invited us for dinner at their house."

"And the Carrows?"

"Oh, they just lived near the Parkinson's mansion," Draco said. "I remember they had this huge lawn where Blaise, Pansy, Vincent, Greg and I used to play."

Ginny nodded. "Well, how on earth are we going to find Yaxley's house? And Umbridge's too."

"Well, there's always the Ministry Registry," Draco answered, spooning some of his curry rice. "We can check there."

Ginny sat up. "The Registry?"

Draco quirked an eyebrow at her while he chewed. "Yeah, do you know any other Registry that can give us addresses of every magical person in our country?" he said after swallowing.

"Uh, no."

Draco studied her quietly, taking in her appearance and quickly deducting that she's nervous and uncomfortable. Being her partner for two years and spending time with her in CMI for another one year, Draco liked to think that he knows her very well. She nibbles her lower lip when she's nervous and drums her fingers on the table if one is in front of her.

"Okay, what's wrong?" Draco asked, leaning forward and trying to catch her eyes. Which he could not since she was looking at her hands.

"What?" Ginny asked, smiling nervously through her nibbled lower lip.

"You're nervous Weasley," Draco stated simply, covering her active fingers with his hand, stopping them from drumming.

"Am not!"

"Yes, you are," Draco nodded softly. "You're drumming your fingers again."

"Well everyone does that—,"

"And you're nibbling on your lip," Draco smiled, raising her chin with a finger and forcing her to look at him. One touch of his finger on her lower lip and she released it from her teeth's capture. She blushed.

"I hate you," she glared at him.

"Only because I'm right," he grinned, leaning back. "So what is it? What are you so nervous about?"

Ginny fidgeted before answering. "Well, you know Steven right?"

"Steven?" Draco asked. "Who's Steven?"

"Steven Egg. You know the guy who gave me white lilies back when we were still partners?"

"You mean, the Egghead?" Draco asked, remembering a perfectly-round-headed man almost five years ago. When Ginny nodded, he continued. "What about Egg?"

"Well, you know that we dated right? Once?" she was nibbling again.

"Yeah, so?" he asked as a waiter carried over their samosas and placed them on the table. "You never told me how that one went."

"Well, we never had the chance to talk about it. The next day, you came in and announced you're quitting," Ginny softly said, looking away.

The subject of Draco's resignation was a soft spot for both of them. It was during around the time that both Ginny and Draco had felt something between them and even if Draco didn't admit it, Ginny had thought that avoiding the tension was one of his reasons for quitting the force.

Draco stared at her first. He knew that she had been hurt that he quit and he also knew what had happened that day he announced his decision. Stopping a sigh, he asked casually, "So how did that date go?"

"Bad," Ginny smiled in remembrance. Then she giggled.

"And apparently funny," Draco grinned, glad to be on safer topics. "Funny, why?"

"Well," she smirked. "He tried to kiss me while we went for a walk at the beach after our dinner."

Draco's eyes turned to slits. "He did?"

Ginny nodded. "Yeah, but I stepped aside and he kinda lost his footing and fell face-first in to the water."

Draco looked at her in amusement and laughed. Soon she was giggling too. When they finally stopped, he said, "So why were nervous?"

Ginny made a face. "Because he works at the registry, you doofus."

"Oh!" Draco grinned. "Why Ginny, do I dare say you're afraid to face him?"

"Don't be ridiculous Malfoy," she rolled her eyes. "I just don't want to see him after I've ran away and left him there on the beach."

"Well, why didn't you let him kiss you by the way?" Draco asked before sipping his chai.

"Because I don't kiss on first dates."

Draco eyed Ginny. "Oh really?"

"Yes, really," she said, digging in to her samosas. "This stuff is good," she smiled. Then she noticed Draco grinning at her. "What?"

"Nothing," Draco's grin went larger. Which meant his nothing wasn't nothing at all. Ginny raised her eyebrows at him. "I just remembered a first date that ended with you kissing a certain blonde who happens to be, um, let's see…me?"

Ginny stared at Draco, knowing she was blushing. She remembered what he was talking about and she also knew everything that happened, and didn't happen, that night.

"That wasn't our first date!" she insisted.

"No?" Draco quirked an eyebrow at her. "Really?"

"Yes," Ginny nodded, chewing her lower lip, making Draco sneer. "We dated once before that. At Hogwarts, remember? The first Hogsmeade Weekend after the Holidays?"

Draco thought for a moment. When recollection dawned, he shook his head. "That wasn't a first date," he answered. "It wasn't even a date at all."

"What?" Ginny looked at him, irritated. "Yes it was!"

"No it wasn't! That was a group date. We were with Potter, Blaise, Granger, your brother, Lovegood and Pansy. Plus, your date then, if you insist on calling it one, was Longbottom and I, Greengrass," Draco informed her. "We didn't even spend too much time with each other back then."

Ginny rolled her eyes. "Well that counts as a date to me!"

Draco shrugged. "Whatever you say, Gin. Anyway, what's with first dates and kissing?"

"Dunno," Ginny said. "Just don't feel like kissing someone on a first date."

"And you feel like it when? The second one?" Draco snorted.

Ginny glared at him. "You're finding this funny, do you Malfoy?"

"Naw," Draco grinned. "Why should I?"

Ginny stuck her tongue out at him. "As if you don't."

Draco stopped himself from laughing at her childish actions. Leaning back on his seat, he scrutinized the girl glaring at him.

"So how many dates must happen before a guy gets to kiss Ginny Weasley?"

Ginny looked thoughtful. "I don't know, it just…happens. Besides, I've only kissed…" she trailed off, and Draco could hear her soft murmurs, counting by drawing lines in the air. He set his jaw. "Five guys."

"Five?" Draco did some recalling of his own. "Potter, stupid Michael Corner, Dean Thomas and me?" When Ginny nodded, blushing, he wrinkled his eyebrows. "Who's the fifth guy?"

At his question, Ginny chewed her lower lip again and drummed her fingers on the table.

Seeing her actions, Draco's eyes narrowed. He suddenly felt annoyed.

"Weasley," he said in a deep, sharp tone.

"Viktor!" she blurted out, wincing.

"Viktor?" Draco said, dumbfounded. "Krum?"

"Yes," came a squeak from the redhead.

"You dated Krum and let him kiss you?" Draco said, keeping his voice down. He wanted to shout but calmed himself. "When?" he growled out.

"Uh," Ginny said, still not meeting his eyes. "Last week."

"Last week?"

"Yeah."

"I thought you were in London for a fashion event?" Draco ground out.

"Yeah, I was," Ginny nodded. "He was there."

"There? Krum was there?"

Ginny took a deep breath and looked up to meet his eyes, which had turned stormy and hard. "You do realize that you're just repeating everything I say?"

"Why was he there Ginny?"

Ginny began to feel irritated at his questions. "Really, Draco—,"

"Why was he there?"

"He's one of the models, okay?" she answered in a loud voice. Realizing that some people were looking their way, she toned it down a bit. "He was spotted by a Muggle agent last month and offered him a job as an image model for an underwear brand. We met there and kept each other company for the week."

_Whole week? Whole week she says?_ Draco frantically thought. _Anything can happen in a week!_

"What did you do for a whole week?" he said in a controlled voice.

Ginny glared at him. "You're doing it again, Malfoy."

Draco glared back. "Just answer the fucking question Weasley!"

"What do you care what we did?" Ginny hissed. "You're getting worked up with jealousy again and we both know you've no right to be jealous over it!"

"Answer it, Ginny," he hissed back. "Answer it now!"

"Nothing okay?" she threw her hands up. "We ate out if our schedules permitted us to. We went to a couple of bars and danced with the others."

"Others?"

"Our co-models! Honestly Draco—,"

"And you kissed, you say?"

"Yes!" Ginny answered through clenched teeth. "What is wrong with you, Ferret? We kissed on our third date, when he dropped me off to my hotel and then he went to his own."

"Where—,"

"On the lips. A chaste kiss on the lips!"

At this, Draco only glared at Ginny. He stood, got out his wallet and tossed the bill on the table, then walked away.

"Where are you going?" Ginny called after him.

He stopped and whirled around. "I'll see you tomorrow at the Registry, Weasel."

* * *

**A/N:** I had some concerns regarding this chapter. First, someone told me that Auror training lasts for three years, a canon fact. I understand I wrote that it lasted for just one year. Now, if many of you are bothered by it, I'll gladly edit it for you guys, which meant the timeline of the story would be altered. I'm ignoring it right now, but if you were somehow bothered, tell me. Next, I don't know how exactly Harry and Hermione helped Sirius escaped, I had forgotten about it, what with so many books I read, so please pardon me if I did my own version of it. Anyway, this is fanfiction, and I don't like canon that much, so please just bear with me if I make some wild adjustments to fit my story every now and then.

Also, I was wondering if one of my first reviewers, **Firestar**, is still reading this. She reviewed anonymously and I didn't thank her enough for her very kind review. And I'd like to thank all the others who reviewed this fic. **oxymoron8**, about Titus, we shall see if he was indeed in cohorts with the five convicts. **snowfire81**, thanks so very much for reviewing and reading my three fics, you're the first one to do so. **Cat**, I'm fine, thanks for asking and thanks also for being a loyal reader. **Dracoginnylover24** thank you! You're my first reviewer for this one! **bcain17**, thanks for that very kind praise. I'm glad someone thought my fic was one of the good D/G stories. **Athena 45**, thank you very much for liking it. And **wrenbailey** thanks for calling it brilliant. I'm really overwhelmed by all your kind words. I promise to write the next one real soon. GOD Bless all of you!


	4. Rockpuffs and Lovefishes

**Disclaimer: **J.K. Rowling owns the whole Harry Potter world. I just like to put them in other strange situations such as the one you're about to read.

**A/N:** Hello there! Thanks again for the warm reviews. Sorry if this took a little longer. I finished it two days ago but I forgot to copy it from my laptop to the PC. Anyway, here's a little Blaise for you. I'm still thinking what to do with Draco and Ginny so I posted this first. Hope you enjoy. GOD Bless!

* * *

**Chapter 4 - Rockpuffs and Lovefishes**

Blaise apparated in the receiving hall of his London townhouse and shouted "I'm home!" at the top of his lungs, shedding his CMI robes while walking in to the living room. Three dark-headed balls of fluff zoomed towards him and attached themselves to his leg.

"Whoa there, kiddos!" Blaise said, laughing as he dropped to his knees and faced his three sons.

"Adam," he smiled at the boy on the left side. "Byron," he said to the one directly in front of him. "Jordan," he greeted the boy on the right.

"Daddy!" said the triplets, flinging their arms around him.

Blaise laughed again as his three-year-olds went on to tell how their day went. It has been two days since he last saw them, having been in Switzerland to tend to business matters. He had terribly missed them.

"Hello, 'home'," said a voice that made him look up.

He found his wife smiling at him, looking delicious in a blue dress. He stood up and went over to Luna.

"Hello, love," he greeted her before enveloping her in a tight hug and kissing her deeply until they both gasped out for air.

Luna Zabini looked up at her husband and touched his cheek. "I missed you."

Blaise smiled. Her eyes mirrored his: full of longing, love and unadulterated lust. He bent over and kissed her neck. "Later," he whispered. "I'll make you see how much I missed you."

They stared at each other meaningfully as they both felt each other heat up. It had been four years already. Four years since they had married.

And Blaise had never been happier.

They met on his first day as an official Auror. Unlike her best friend Ginny, Luna had went on to work for her father's paper right after Hogwarts. She was doing an interview of Harry about his first day as an Auror. It was, of course, an exclusive.

During Hogwarts, he hadn't been that close to the Ravenclaw. Blaise usually sees her with Ginny and the other Gryffindors that comprised the DA. She was pretty, as she always smiles at others for no reason at all. She was smart as a Ravenclaw should be. And she was unique, as he had spied several real vegetables dangling from her earrings one time. He had heard of her rumored craziness but Blaise had always thought of it as individuality. The only times they had close contacts were when Draco, his parents and Blaise were invited to the Burrow for Christmas and that Hogsmeade weekend after the Holidays. They did not have one-on-one talks long enough for one to like the other. They smile when they pass each other at Hogwarts hallways. In other words, Blaise didn't see Luna as someone he could spend a romantic time with, much less his whole life.

Until she came into the Auror Office, wearing a yellow dress and oversized glasses. She was light in contrast with the dark that is the Aurors robes around her.

_Blaise had been in Harry's cubicle when Luna approached, her hair loose, framing her face that held a smile._

"_Hi Harry!" she said in her usual soft and dreamy voice. She held up a hand and waved._

"_Luna!" Harry stood and went over to hug her. "Is that really you?" he asked, peering at her face._

_Blaise, who was sitting Potter's desk raised an eyebrow at Ron, who shrugged from where he was seated._

"_Ron, you're here!" Luna said, smiling at the redheaded guy. Ron stood up and hugged her too._

"_Hello, Luna!" Ron smiled. "So you're the reporter."_

_Luna nodded. "Yes. Daddy said he couldn't trust the others for this one so he sent me," she smiled. "How's Ginny? I haven't heard from her since she decided to go into the Training Program."_

_"She's doing quite well, really. giving Tonks a headache, in fact," Ron grinned._

_Luna giggled. "That's Ginny alright," __she glanced at Blaise who hadn't said a word until now. "Hello there," she smiled her dreamy smile again._

_Blaise was surprised that she had acknowledged him._

"_Hello Lovegood. Nice to see you again," he said with a small wave._

_She smiled wider, stepped towards him and much to his surprise, she hugged him. Tight._

_Then she went on and told Harry that they should start the interview._

Blaise had felt a jolt when she hugged him. A jolt that he quickly attributed to as hormones. He hadn't been with a girl since he started training. He also blamed those same hormones when he sought her out later that afternoon and invited her for a cup of tea.

Somehow, in between dating Luna for almost a year and solving Auror cases, his hormones finally gave way to the feeling he didn't know he'd feel: Love.

So here he was, four years later, happily married to Luna "Loony" Lovegood, with triplets who had his hair and their mother's eyes.

When he asked why she had hugged him that day, she smile and said, "Because Ron and Harry hugged me. I wanted to be fair," which really didn't make sense to him. But he secretly thanked the two prats for hugging Luna back then. If they didn't, who knew what had happened to him right now.

"Have you eaten yet?" Luna asked as they disentangled.

Blaise shook his head as he took her hand and entwined it with his. "Nope. Draco offered but I'd rather have it here. I missed eating with you and the kids."

Luna grinned. "Good! I had Dilly prepare the table earlier. Let's go!" she said, guiding him towards the dining room.

When they had settled and the food was served, Blaise asked his wife what she did when he was abroad. He knew she had gone to Muggle London to cover the Fashion Week for the Quibbler.

"Well, I attended the fashion show as I told you and I was with Pansy. We saw Ginny, by the way. She was so pretty on the catwalk. Have you seen her ad?" she asked him, while pouring more juice in to Jordan's glass.

Blaise nodded. "Yes. Ron and Ginny were fighting about it in the headquarters earlier. That's why we ended the meeting late."

Luna grinned. "Really? I knew Ron would be mad. I told Ginny that before she said yes to Lav. But you know Ginny. She's as stubborn as a Rockpuff."

Not knowing what a Rockpuff was and because he had learned to deal with Luna's mystery creatures, he nodded again. He just assumed that Rockpuffs were hard. Maybe rocks that…err…puff out?

"Well, if there was one who was pleased by the ad, it's Draco Malfoy," he smirked. "I wish Drake would marry her already and do us all a favor by it."

Luna laughed. "Soon love. Soon they'll realize that they're meant for each other like two lovefishes."

"That is if the two of them could stop being prats for a while and actually listen to their hearts instead of their heads." Blaise shook his head. "The two of them are both hard-headed prats that would make a perfect couple. They both know it, they just don't want to be the first to open the topic."

"Daddy, what's a prat?" Byron asked, looking at him innocently.

"Oh, err…" Blaise said, remembering that his sons were present. He turned to Luna.

Luna was wearing an amused look on her lovely face that said, 'Let's see you get out of this.'

"Uhm, a prat is…"

"Uncle Draco and Uncle Ron are prats," Adam said solemnly.

"Adam!" Blaise turned to his other sons, horror in his eyes. "Where did you learn such a thing?"

"I heard them talking when they were visiting here. Uncle Ron said Uncle Draco was a bloody prat and Uncle Draco said Uncle Ron was also one," came the honest reply.

"Well who told you to eavesdrop on adult conversations?" Blaise asked, controlling himself from laughing and making himself sound stern. His son just called his best friend a prat and it was all bloody brilliant. But of course he couldn't tell Adam that. Luna would jinx him.

"I wasn't eavesperting," Adam told him as-a-matter-of-factly. "They were shouting."

Blaise shook his head. He'd have to talk to the two once he saw them. Their actions always lead him to difficult situations.

"Daddy," Jordan called.

"Yes, Jordan?"

"What's a prat?"

* * *

After tucking their sons in bed, Blaise and Luna went to their bedroom. Much as he missed his triplets, he missed their mother more.

Closing the door, he grabbed Luna's waist and pulled her against him.

Luna smiled up to him. "Now?" she asked, quirking an eyebrow at him.

"Now," Blaise growled. He was about to kiss her when Luna stopped him by laying two fingers on his lips. "What?"

"You smell of the Ministry," she wrinkled her nose at him.

"So?" Blaise said, leaning once again only to be stopped. "Luna!"

"Blaise!" Luna mimicked his voice. "Really love, I don't see you for two days and you come back smelling like an Auror. That's not very romantic, you know?"

"Luna, I don't care how I smell like. I want you. Now," he said huskily. "Can I please get my kiss?"

Luna glared at him. After a while he sighed.

"Alright, alright. Why is everyone giving me a hard time today?" he rolled his eyes. But he walked towards the bathroom.

"Well, hurry up so we can do something about that," Luna called after him. Then she giggled.

After taking a bath, he wrapped his waist in a towel and looked for his wife. He found her sitting on the bed, leaning back on the plump pillows, legs stretched out in front of her. She looked edible in a short cream nightgown.

Then he noticed the room. It was dimly-lit by floating candles, smelling like vanilla and sandalwood. The doors leading to the veranda were closed but the curtains were drawn open, letting the moonlight stream inside the room.

"Now that's what I call a welcome," he murmured, advancing towards Luna.

Luna giggled as he reached the bed. Blaise sat on the edge and laid a hand on her thigh. Immediately, her jovial eyes sparked with lust.

"Massage?" Luna offered. Blaise shook his head. "No?"

"No!" Blaise growled and Luna giggled.

"Impatient, aren't we?" asked Luna as Blaise leaned and kissed her eyes closed. "Oh," she sighed.

"I missed these blue eyes," said Blaise. "This nose," he continued, planting a kiss on her nose. "These lips," he growled, crashing his lips unto hers.

Blaise's tongue caressed her lips and she opened them, meeting his tongue with her own. His hands were everywhere, hers on his dark hair. When he touched her breast lightly through the nightgown, she arched. Blaise moved to pin her down the bed and covered her body with his own. He slid his hands into her clothing and cupped her bare breast, kneading her nipples until it was swollen. All the while kissing her.

His mouth moved down to her neck, then her collarbones and finally covered her free breast through the cloth, making her gasp and arch.

"Blaise," she moaned.

He smiled against her skin and continued down. When his hot breath touched her belly, she thrust it up to him, making him groan.

"Luna," he called.

He kissed her belly, down to her inner thigh, hooking up a finger on the elastic band of her knickers, inching them down.

What perfect way to end a long day than ending it with a long night?

* * *

**A/N:** I'm not very good with these kinds of scenes, you know the making love part? But I think I fared well, if I do say so myself. Haha! Anyway, I'm off to do the next one. Thanks for the reviews by the way, as well as the suggestions **oxymoron8**. Hope you'll all wait for the next one to be posted! Thanks again everyone. GOD Bless you all!


	5. Patience is a Virtue

**Disclaimer: **J.K. Rowling owns the whole Harry Potter world. I just like to put them in other strange situations such as the one you're about to read.

**A/N:** Yes, don't throw axes. I'm back. Sorry this took long. Thesis-making, no matter how much I hate it, is necessary for graduation. If I were a literature student, I'd do a thesis on fanfictions. But because I'm a communication arts students, I can't. So anyway, hope you'll all enjoy. As usual, reviews are very much appreciated. This Author's Note does not really make sense, does it?

* * *

**Chapter 5 - Patience is a Virtue**

If there was one thing Ginny Weasley hated the most, it was waiting.

She hated waiting to be let in to Hogwarts; she hated waiting for Harry to get his act together; she hated waiting for him to show up after he's hunted down all Horcruxes; she hated waiting for Draco Malfoy to walk in the Registry doors so that they could begin their mission.

He was late, she hoped he knew that. He was nearing thirty minutes late and she'll soon get varicose veins, standing like this just outside of the elevators that'll lead them to the Registry.

"What a prat!" she muttered to herself as people wheezed by her to get into the elevators. "Ten more minutes, Malfoy. Ten more minutes and I'll go up whether or not you're here!"

Why didn't she just go up to Seventh Floor, Ministry of Magic Registry and Records anyway? After all, she just needed to get information about those sodding prisoners so they can locate them and plant surveillance ferns around their houses.

Well, she would have, if only 1.) she wasn't so ashamed to see Egghead again; 2.) she enjoyed looking at tons and tons of files alone as she was sure Hermione would be; 3.) she knew whether or not she should use concealment charms or come as she looks like that day; and 4.) she wasn't so worried for her supposed-to-be partner, Draco Malfoy.

Yes, she was worried. Draco hadn't been late like this before, that was her forte anyway, so this was all so strange. She suspiciously thought he was doing this because they fought last night, but Draco knew better than mix business with personal issues.

So why the hell was he late?

They haven't even discussed how to do this. They don't use a specific trick while snooping around for clues. Would they drink Polyjuice Potions? Cast Glamour charms maybe? Manually conceal themselves by donning scarves and wearing glasses? Draco would have a hard time spotting her if she disguised herself. Or would they come as they really are?

She hoped they conceal their identities, it was much better that way. No one would wonder why ex-Auror Partners Malfoy and Weasley were snooping inside the Registry offices this early in the morning.

Ginny sighed.

To wait or not to wait?

That is the question.

As the minutes dragged on, Ginny tried to calm herself. She was bloody worried for Draco and she didn't know what to do.

She tried calling his name to the charmed mirror CMI's only used but she had to do it so discreetly so as not to attract attention. The few times she called his name, she got a blank image. Mirrors such as this one was not to be used by mere citizens; if someone saw her using it, they'll wonder and if that reaches Kingsley Shacklebolt, she'll be in trouble.

And she couldn't even Floo him. What if he got here when she went over to his flat?

"Come on Draco, don't do this to me," she nearly groaned, trying to ignore her worried feelings. She should be mad at him, really. If he was indeed doing this just to spite her, then he'll probably get hexed. He had no business getting all jealous over Viktor and while she felt flattered by his protectiveness, she was madly irritated by it.

They were not an exclusive couple, after all.

They tried that already, but that didn't work out. Though the two of them were polar opposites at many things, it was their similarities that ruin the idea of being exclusively together.

Both of them have damned big prides. It was sort of a hindrance between the two of them really. That and time usually work against them.

You see, when Ginny finally admitted to herself that she was falling for Draco, she tried telling him. But for some unknown reasons, Draco decided to disregard her announcement and quit the force the next day. He disappears for nearly two year and comes back seeking her when she had hardened her heart at him and heightened her pride. Perfect timing that guy has.

When she learned he would be with CMI like her, she had wanted to quit. But pride got in the way and for the first two weeks, she acted coldly around him. After talking to him, or rather after being pushed against a wall and being kissed, roughly, not to mention, kissing back just as rough, they decided to date, not exclusively but casually.

So Draco Malfoy, who was now striding towards her wearing a frown, had no right whatsoever to be jealous.

"What are you doing here?" he hissed, taking her arm and guiding her back from where he came from: the doors leading outside. No one can just apparate in to the Ministry, that's why Wizards have to apparate outside the building and take the elevators down to the lobby.

"Where are you taking me?" she tried to take her arm away, but his grip was tight. "Where are we going?"

"To Yaxley's," Draco answered, pulling his wand out as they approached one of the apparition points near the doors.

"What? How'd you…but I thought…" she asked, clearly confused.

"Didn't you get my owl?" Draco slid a glance at her. "I owled you at your house last night."

Ginny looked surprised. "No, you didn't."

"Yes, I did," then suddenly, he growled out. "You didn't sleep in your flat last night, didn't you?"

Ginny was immediately angered. "Yes, and before you start walking out again, I'll have you know I went over and stayed at the Burrow."

Draco's features softened.

'Can someone tell me how to stop falling for this guy?'

"That's probably why you didn't get the owl. I told Hermes to go to your flat. He probably left the note outside your door…" he trailed off, looking thoughtful. "We better go there now before somebody picks it up."

He led her to one of the apparition point and stood in line to wait. Honestly, he could have just cut in and apparated both of them right then, but there wasn't a long line really and he didn't want to raise any more attention as Ginny was attracting more right now.

While in line, two guys, the one in front of them and another from an entirely different line, came up to Ginny and asked for an autograph. He would have told them to shove off but he knew that Ginny didn't want people to wonder about their relationship. As far as the world is concerned, Ginevra Molly Prewett Weasley isn't seeing anyone. And he was just a friend.

But of course, as a Malfoy, and because of his feelings for her, he could not help but be possessive. For as far as he is concerned, he is seeing Ginny and they weren't, certainly weren't just friends.

So to stake his claim, when their turn came, instead of apparating individually, he pulled Ginny to his side, stepped at the port, hugged her tightly against him as she squealed in surprise and apparated away. Not without grinning at the massive, jealous, male eyes around them.

* * *

"What are lovefishes?" Harry asked, as they inspected Yaxley's cell in Azkaban.

Blaise looked up from the floor where he was crouched, casting a charm tracer spell. "Lovefishes? I heard that from Luna. Last night, I think."

"Oh great," Harry groaned. "She got it from Luna."

"Who got who from my wife?" Blaise looked at Harry with interest.

"Pansy," Harry answered. He walked to where Blaise was when he saw Blaise's wand emit a red light. "She must have heard them from Luna."

"Heard what? Lovefishes?" Blaise answered.

"Yep. What've you got?"

"The Animagus Spell," Blaise answered. "What about lovefishes?"

"Pansy wants a pair. I know about lovebirds, Muggles have them as pets. What I don't know is lovefishes," Harry frowned. "Just the Animagus Spell?"

Blaise nodded. "Yes, all five cells. Escape was a piece of cake, the windows all are made of bars. That's the only opening except for the doors, which as you've said weren't tampered with, manually or magically," then he pointed at the windows. "So that only leaves us with the windows. What do you think?"

Harry frowned thoughtfully. "Hmmn, you're right, I think. A crow, a sparrow, a toad, a bee and a squirrel…they can fit there; and if a toad and a squirrel would jump out, the thick trees below can cushion their fall," he said. "We're done here I think. Let's question the guards."

They went to an empty visiting area ad waited for the guards to one by one go into the room for questioning.

"So, where can I find lovefishes?" Harry turned to Blaise, who was leaning back on his seat.

The guy shrugged. "How should I know?"

"Well, Luna Lovegood is your wife, isn't she?" Harry rolled his eyes.

"Oh you know Luna," he grinned. "She normally just smiles at me when I ask what those creatures were. Then she tells me that I'll know about it in the future."

Harry laughed. "I swear, Zabini, your wife is such a drama queen."

Blaise shrugged. "Well, that, she is," he answered. "Anyway, why does Pansy wants a pair of lovefishes?"

"Beats me," Harry sighed. "I just wish she'll go into labor soon, these pregnancy whims are killing me."

Blaise laughed.

It had been five years since Harry Potter married Pansy Parkinson. A rather rushed wedding in Blaise's opinion. The two met at Blaise's birthday party and had been inseparable since. So inseparable that a baby came first before they said their "I do's". But hey, Blaise saw how radiant Pansy was in a wedding gown with a bulging tummy that day she married Harry and he was happy for both of them. Pansy deserved all the happiness she can get, all Death Eaters' children do.

"Maybe you should ask Hagrid about it," Blaise said. "If he doesn't know, I don't know who does."

Harry nodded.

A guard came in so they had to proceed with the interrogation.

* * *

Ginny and Draco apparated in front of her flat's door. She quickly disentangled herself from Draco, who she saw, was grinning.

"What are you grinning at?" she snapped, spotting the paper on the floor by the door and opening it. It read:

'_Red,_

_Already got the other addresses._

_Meet me at my office at eight._

_ D.'_

She whirled around and saw Draco had already opened her door.

"You already know?" she asked, watching him walk inside her living room and holding the door for her.

Draco nodded. "Inside now, Red."

Ginny's irritation came back. "I'm the owner of this flat!" she snapped, stomping inside her flat and plopping down the sofa. She glared at him, arms and legs crossed in front of her. "Well?"

Draco crossed the room, and stood by the fire place, leaning on the mantelpiece. "Well what?"

"How'd you find them?"

"Connections. I forgot my mother was invited to Umbridge's once and I asked her," Draco, looking not at her but at the pictures on her mantelpiece.

"Yaxley?"

"Pansy," he said simply.

"We're not supposed to tell other people our missions," Ginny said in an alarmed voice.

"Relax Red," he murmured, still not looking at her. He seemed to be engrossed at the biggest picture in the mantelpiece. It was one of her graduation pictures, with her family, her friends and yes, including him.

After the war, Hogwarts decided to make students repeat their years. In that remedial year, interesting and formerly impossible things had happened.

Because before the Final Battle at Hogwarts, many Death Eaters have converted to the Order's side, the former enemies soon became friends. Harry even owed his life to Narcissa Malfoy, having cast a protector spell in time, before Voldemort sent a killing curse on him. He made efforts to make it up to her by befriending his former enemy, her son Draco. Soon, Draco and Blaise found themselves spending a holiday at the Burrow, with a very jolly Lucius Malfoy and a contented Narcissa and of course almost all the Order Members.

Of course it was not easy, having been enemies for seven years and hating each other's guts. Eventually Draco had warmed up to the idea of being friends with Harry and his band of friends, seeing that Blaise had already befriended them.

"What'd you tell them?" Ginny asked, coming over to him.

"Nothing much, I just asked Mother if she happened to know where I can find Punishment quills. I knew Umbridge had a lot of them and sure enough, Mother told me so. She cautioned me not to go venturing in Umbridge's house," Draco said.

"And?"

"I told her I wouldn't, I didn't even know where it was, then Mother laughed and said she had brought me there when I was a baby," Draco turned to the other picture, a holiday at the Burrow. "Said it was a shame that her house in Islington had been deserted for years."

"So she unwittingly gave the address to you?" Ginny frowned.

Draco nodded, still viewing the photographs.

"And she didn't even notice?"

Draco shrugged.

"And Pansy?"

"Pansy knew it's important. She's Harry's wife. But she didn't ask questions, simply answer them."

"What about their other relatives' houses?"

Draco didn't answer. He fingered a picture of him and Ginny at a party at the Malfoys.

"Draco!"

"What?" Draco murmured.

"Can you stop looking at those long enough to answer my questions?" Ginny snapped. When Draco turned and looked at her, she placed her hands on her hips. "Well?"

Draco quickly considered her options. If he told Ginny that he had been at the Registry at four this morning she'll probably turn berserk and demand why he didn't tell her. She'll probably tell him how this was their mission and they were partners. He can always lie to her, but she seemed to have a knack for reading right through him.

But he found it also hard to tell her that he went there alone, early in the morning, so she won't have to see Steven Egg and avoid being embarrassed. It was the truth.

Ginny was tapping her right foot impatiently, waiting for him to answer. He took in her appearance. She tends to dress in comfortable clothes when they're on a mission. Right now, she wore a pale green turtleneck, a white trench coat and black slacks. Her horn-rimmed eye glasses glared at him and her hair fell in soft waves just past her shoulders. Even simply dressed, she seemed to emit an air of sophistication supermodels usually have.

She was beautiful and Draco ached, everyday, to make her his.

"I went to the registry this morning…" he said and proceeded to tell her of the truth.

After he had explained, Ginny wore an expression that Draco both hoped and hoped not to be love.

She stepped towards him and wrapped her arms around his neck, tiptoeing and placing a small kiss on his lips. She withdrew, leaving just an inch of space between their lips and whispered, "Thank you."

Draco slid his hands to rest on her hips and pulled her closer. "No need for that, you know I'll do anything for you."

Ginny smiled and leaned back to stand flatly on her feet, drawing Draco's head with her. "Really?" she asked, playing with his hair on his nape. "Anything?"

Draco's eyes flashed amusement. "Why? What'd you want?"

"Nothing material, really," Ginny answered. "Just that you promise not to be jealous again."

The amusement faded and Draco scowled. "That's hard to do," he said.

Ginny frowned. They stared at each other for another second and Draco sighed.

"I'll try," he finally answered.

"Draco…"

"I'll try. I promise to try, Red, that's the best you'll get from me," he seriously said. "If you stopped dating others then maybe I won't have to be jealous."

Ginny sighed.

Draco knew better than to press the issue. He decided to let it go for now. There were other, more important things to do.

He touched her cheek. "We better get going, Gin. Harry wants us to finish by tomorrow."

Ginny nodded. "Kiss me?" she smiled up to him, feeling the need to be closer to him first before they went on their mission.

Draco needn't to be told twice. His fingers tightened their hold around her waist and leaned down to capture her lips.

It was a rather harsh kiss, for they didn't see each other for a week and Draco and Ginny missed each other terribly.

Ginny felt his tongue on her lips and she opened them to let him in, meeting him with equal passion. His left hand crept up to her rib cage, just below her breast. She raised her knee and rubbed his inner thighs with it, sometimes touching his member. Ginny felt him cover a breast and play with it. Ginny pulled back her lips and groaned out.

"Draco…" she moaned out.

Draco grinned and continued playing with her breast, enjoying the look on her face.

"Draco…" Ginny called again. "Bedroom, now…"

Draco chuckled, withdrew his hand and pulled her back to his arms.

"Much as I want to take you now, love," he murmured in her ears. "We have work to do."

He felt Ginny's sigh and nod.

"You're right," Ginny pushed him softly away and righted her coat and turtleneck.

She walked towards the door.

"Ginny?" called Draco.

She turned and looked at him. "Yes?"

"Later."

It wasn't a question, rather a statement.

Ginny smiled and held out her hand. "Let's go Secret Auror Malfoy. So later would come faster."

Draco sneered, took her hand and laced their fingers together.

"That'll be great, Secret Auror Weasley."

* * *

Hermione sighed.

Usually, being buried under many books when doing research brought joy and satisfaction to her. She was, after all, Hermione Granger, Gryffindor's resident bookworm. She should be feeling accomplished right now, having been able to uncover a few leads that can help them in their case, but Hermione didn't feel anything near accomplishment.

And her baby lust is to blame.

She wants to have a baby.

Hermione knew it's only two weeks before she became an official wife. She's excited about it, but she liked, always liked to be advance about everything: advance reading was her hobby, doing advance homework were her forte, so she wanted to be advance in the family thing. She couldn't bear to wait nine months for a baby. She wanted to conceive earlier, even before their wedding.

She knew she was being unreasonable, but she just couldn't wait.

Hermione sighed again.

She envied Harry and Blaise.

That fucking Zabini had the triplets, Byron, Adam and Jordan. It Hermione's mind Blaise had hit the jackpot. If she were to conceive, she'd also want triplets. Maybe even quadruplets, for that matter.

Harry had James and he's having another.

Lucky bastards.

The problem was Ron didn't like to talk about having kids. He refused, not outrightly of course, to speak about children. Hermione couldn't blame her fiancé. She knew he was scared of being a parent, and besides, Ron took work seriously. Aside from Hermione, Ron places his work on his priority list. Hermione understands that, she loves her careers too, both as an Auror and a Healer. In her opinion, Ron was afraid to grow up. The bottom line was that Ron was not ready for additional responsibility. And a baby would be a huge one.

She sighed.

Hermione willed herself to concentrate on her research. She was inside one of the research rooms in the Auror Top Secret Files Library. She turned back to the papers she was reading. It was about the Carrows, and their lives. Hermione desperately searched for possible motives and any mention of how they found out about the Dementors'…well, fine, Dementors' Day Off.

She found none.

She sighed.

"'Mione," Neville called her name from across the table.

She looked up. "Yeah?"

"You've been sighing for a few times now, are you alright?" Neville's eyes looked over her carefully. "Is there any problem?"

Inwardly, she grimaced. Outwardly, she smiled. "Yes, I mean, no Nev. Just a little beat. Five Death Eaters loose, that's very worrisome, don't you think?"

"Nice try, Hermione," Neville smiled kindly. "Now how about the truth?"

Hermione sighed. After spending three years in the Auror Research team with him, Neville became one of the few people who can read Hermione's moods.

"It's nothing really, Neville. You know how I want to have a child already. I'm just thinking about how to get Ron to agree."

"Ah, baby lust again, eh?"

Hermione nodded. She closed the file book of the Carrows and moved on to read about Russian Igor Karkaroff.

"Yes. I mean, I love Ron, but I wish he'd have more enthusiasm regarding the subject," she sighed again, while reading Karkaroff's profile. "I know he's terrified of having kids, but is that even an excuse? He knows it's not really terrifying. I mean look at Harry. He's his best friend and he knows Harry's very happy with James and the coming baby. And Blaise! Merlin, Blaise has three sons! If Ron doesn't see how contented Blaise is even with the triplets, I don't know anymore. Everyone seems to have a child these days, and yes I'm jealous! I mean look! Even Igor Karkaroff has a son!"

"What!" Neville closed the large book he had been reading and went over to her side. "Igor has a what?"

"A son…" Hermione trailed off, the implication of the words slowly sinking in. "A son!" she widened her eyes at Neville and both turned to the book she held in front of her.

_**Family:**__ Wife (Rovina Karkaroff) and son, (_Ivan_ Karkaroff)_

_ Parents: Father (Stanislav Karkaroff)_

_ Mother (Veronika Karkaroff)_

"Blaise!" Hermione shrieked at the two-way mirror CMI Aurors exclusively used.

Blaise's face came into view. "Hello 'Mione," he greeted with a raised eyebrow. "Ready to apologize for calling me a—,"

"Shut up Zabini," Hermione snapped. "Do you know a certain Ivan Karkaroff?"

Blaise's arrogant face turned thoughtful. "Ivan…" he said thoughtfully. A faint noise was heard and Blaise turned to his side. "It's Hermione," he said to the person who made the noise.

"Is that Harry?" Hermione asked.

"Yes," Blaise shifted the mirror for Hermione to see Harry.

"Hey, 'Mione," Harry waved. "What've you got?"

"An Ivan Karkaroff," said Blaise. "Igor's son."

"Really?" Harry asked.

"Yes," Hermione nodded. "Do you know him, Blaise?"

"A few years ago. He's older by three years than us," he answered. "I've only seen him a couple of times."

"I assume he goes to Durmstrang?" Neville asked from where he was sitting beside Hermione.

"Oh, hey Nev!" Blaise greeted. "Yeah, Durmstrang. But I heard he didn't graduate."

"Why?" Neville and Hermione both asked.

"Igor kicked him out. He didn't want to renounce his Muggle-loving ways. Actually, Ivan refused to join the Dark Army," Blaise answered again. "He's rather good unlike his father."

"So he's been disinherited. Have you heard of him these days?" asked Hermione, furiously taking notes as Blaise spoke.

"No. I haven't heard from him since. As I said, we're not that well-acquainted."

Silence fell as each of the four tried to think of how Ivan Karkaroff fit in the picture.

"Why do I feel that for some reason, Igor Karkaroff might go see him?" Hermione asked no one in particular.

"Revenge?" the three all answered.

Hermione nodded. "But for what?"

"For turning his back on the Dark Army. For loving Muggles so much," Blaise said thoughtfully.

"Then we better get moving," Harry said with authority. "Hermione, why don't you check if you can find out where Igor's son lives? Blaise and I are going to finish up here in Azkaban. Nev, thanks for your help. Can you continue researching about the other convicts?"

Neville nodded. "Sure thing Harry."

"Thanks again, Nev," Harry smiled. "Let's all make sure we get those guys' butts back in Azkaban. I still have some lovefish-hunting to do."

* * *

**A/N:** So there! Oh, yeah, please don't sue me, but I forgot to disclaim the triplets names. Adam, Byron and Jordan are not from me. They come from Ann M. Martin, the author of The Baby-Sitter's Club. If you don't remember, they're the triplet-brothers of Mallory Pike. There! Thanks again, and GOD Bless you all!


	6. Ron, Wine and Stripteases

**Disclaimer: **J.K. Rowling owns the whole Harry Potter world. I just like to put them in other strange situations such as the one you're about to read.

**A/N:** SORRY! I know I'm so late in posting this. I am really really sorry for the delay. The last few weeks were a blur for me. Finals (I live in the Philippines, our first semester starts on June and ends on the second week of October), then my LAN Card got busted so my PC couldn't connect to the internet for several days so I wasn't able to post this sooner. I had already finished this one last week but the internet connection got all weird again. So, I'm really sorry for this being late.

This one's dedicated to snowfire81 because I told her I'll post by the end of last week and I didn't. Please forgive me. I hope this one was worth the wait.

* * *

**Chapter 6 - Ron, Wine and Stripteases**

Ron found himself wondering what he did before to find himself dressed as a woman, flirting and dating with Draco Malfoy of all people.

Well, yeah sure he broke a couple hundred laws back in school and there was that time when he drove the Flying Car to get Harry without their Mum and Dad's knowledge, and he did fly back in it to Hogwarts. But really, were those sins so bad for him to be subjected in to this kind of thing? If that was the case, why was Harry not dressed as a woman too?Why was he in the headquarters, probably laughing his ass off?

He had a list of names in his mind, a list of names to hex after this undercover mission they chose to give him. He was still wondering what hex he would have to use as the people in his list were all adept duelers. But whatever happens, he vowed he would get his just revenge for being subjected into this undercover work. And no, he definitely would not listen to anyone's explanation when they grovel in front of him and plead for mercy. He doubted they would plead anyway, much less grovel. But just in case they do, he would not listen to reason and would hex their excuses of their mouths.

He wouldn't be part of the CMI Team if he weren't a tough Auror now, would he?

First on his list was Harry. Yes, Harry Potter, his very best friend, who had decreed that he, Ronald Billius Weasley, would have to be given 'safe' parts when going on missions.

_Safe my arse_, Ronald thought as he sipped his tea and smiled 'sweetly' at Draco, who by the way, was gleefully smirking at him.

Ron knew Harry just thought of that to serve Ron's and the CMI's best interests at heart. If he gave Ron dangerous parts on missions, he might be injured. And being injured is not an option for a Quidditch player like Ron. Besides, if he were to get injured, the team management might get too curious and that might endanger the secrecy of CMI. Unless necessary, Harry would never place Ron at any dangerous missions; the dangerous parts were either given to Draco, Blaise or Harry first.

Kingsley Shacklebolt's name was right under Harry's. The Head of Aurors had enthusiastically agreed to the brilliant suggestion of the Great-Boy-Who-Lived and placed Ron in charge of handling surveillance ferns by manning the surveillance mirrors where the ferns transmit and show their footages of marked places. Ron thought it was some kind of joke placed on him when he heard. Not only wasn't he the first choice when it comes to the 'action' part of the Team's work, but he was put in-charge of _watching_ mirrors the whole day that he was available. He was glad for the days when he had practices because if he didn't have one, he has to man the mirrors, warming his seat and looking endlessly at old houses and their unmoving components. They think watching an old rocking chair was exciting? Well they should try it then, so they can see just how _exhilarating_ it was. Ron knew his work was important for the Team; if their suspect goes to a place the CMI had marked with the ferns, it was easy for them to capture the suspect. But still...

Third was Blaise Zabini who had been the original pick for this undercover part. Blaise had sudden business to attend to his cauldron company that in Ron's opinion can wait. As Harry decided that going undercover was not too much for Ron to handle, he sent him off with a phial of Polyjuice Potion combined with the yellow hair of a Muggle woman. The dark-haired git even clapped his back, congratulating him that he was to be on a real mission, instead of manning mirrors. Ron wanted to argue that he missed his mirrors and would have asked for Harry to do it instead but Draco wanted to get going.

_You'd think Harry might have wanted to do this himself since I'm such an important person to keep safe_, Ron thought. _Some friend he was._

Fourth was Neville, who found out that Ivan Karkaroff was a friend of Viktor Krum. The fact presented itself three days after Hermione's discovery of Ivan Karkaroff's existence. Now, isn't that nice? Of all the people in the world, Ivan had to be friends with Viktor Krum. Ron couldn't have cared less if the two had a gay relationship but Krum was the main reason why he was here, having a date with Draco Malfoy. Maybe he should add Krum to the list? And Malfoy too, if he won't stop grinning at him like a Cheshire cat.

Fifth and last, was Ginny Weasley, his own sister. The reason, and a valid one, was that she was the one who had volunteered to get information out of Viktor Krum, who turned out to be her co-model at a Fashion event several days ago. If she hadn't then he wouldn't be here, across the table from a grinning Malfoy, wearing a stupid pink dress, sporting long, curly, blonde hair and flirting, flirting outrageously for that matter, with Draco Malfoy. This was her idea of getting information? Through a date? Why not a game of Quidditch? Veritaserum would be nice too. But no. Ginny was a woman after all. She has to this glamorously. Really, she was spending too much time watching spy movies with her Muggle friends.

Of course he understood that there was no better alternative than to do this Ginny's way. But really! Must there be two spies to look after his sister? Last time he checked, Draco Malfoy was brilliant at dueling and would have easily thrown Viktor Krum to the wall should he touch his sister Ginny unnecessarily. Draco had single-handedly fought and won against four Wizards several months ago, when they were running after a group of illegal magical animal dealers.

Oh, and besides, he knew Ginny can handle herself quite well.

So what's up with Harry dispatching two CMI Aurors to look after Ginny Weasley, expert of the Bat-bogey hex?

"Enjoying the date so far?" Draco drawled, fingering Ron's 'hair' and tucking it behind 'his' ear.

He shuddered with disgust and pulled away. "Malfoy!" he whined.

'Draco's' eyes flashed with alarm as he guffawed. But when calmed down, he said in a low voice, "Damnit, Weasley! You're not supposed to call me Malfoy out loud!" He cast a Muffliato around them and glared again at him.

Draco had also drank Polyjuice to look like a brown-haired man with blue eyes.

Ron flushed. "Oh, yeah," he nodded. "Sorry, _Ben_."

Draco smirked and twisted to look at Ginny's table.

Ron followed his gaze and said, "You think this is a good idea?"

Draco shrugged. "Your sister's pretty confident about it and I trust her. Let's just hope Krum keeps his hands to himself and only used his mouth for eating and talking. If not…"

The unsaid threat had Ron's eyebrows raising. "Well, aren't we a bit protective?" he said.

Draco swiveled to look at him. "She's my partner. I just don't want to see her harassed. As you should also be as her brother."

Ron sat back, rather gracefully as he was a girl at that moment, and eyed his 'date'. "Don't fool around Draco, I might not say anything about it but I know there's something going on between you and my sister."

Draco, who had twisted to look behind him again, turned sharply at the front and said, "What?"

Ron gave Draco one of his own smirks that looked like a malicious grin on Ron's feminine face. "Yeah, Malfoy. I know."

Draco was surprised beyond belief that the most protective, which equals to deadly brother of Ginny knew about their relationship. But how?

"How?" Draco said, a guarded expression on his face.

Ron laughed, or rather giggled loudly as he was a she that day.

"I read the lifestyle papers, Malfoy," he said. "I read about how former 'Auror partners Malfoy and Weasley keep communication lines open after being separated for almost two years'," he said, drawing quotation marks at his words. Draco recognized the headline from the Magic Tattler, a lifestyle magazine. "I also saw that big picture of you and Ginny in her bedroom. That, and a pair of grey boxers with silk lining that screams the Malfoy name," Ron's eyes slit as he spoke. "Which leads me to ask, when are you going to marry her?"

"Marry?" Draco spluttered very unlike a Malfoy.

Ron grinned nefariously again. "Yes. Do you think us Weasley boys would let you off the hook when all of the boys know how you've taken my sister's innocence away?"

Draco stared at Ron. "You expect me to marry your sister?"

Ron began to feel angry. How dare this prick treat his sister like a whore?

"Look Malfoy, I don't expect you to understand but Ginny is my only sister and she's a Weasley. Weasleys' do not become single parents—."

"Whoa Ronald!" Draco raised his hands and called for a time out. Remembering that they weren't supposed to be calling each other their real names, he turned and looked around. But no one was looking at them and the spell he cast seems to still hold. "Back up there, Weasel King. Single parent?"

Ron turned red. "Yes," he said in through gritted teeth. "She's a Weasley."

"I know that—."

"And Weasley's are known for their…conceiving abilities."

"Conceiving—."

"What if my sister's pregnant?"

Draco just stared at Ron.

"Well?" Ron snapped.

Then Draco laughed loudly.

"What is bloody funny Malfoy?" Ron demanded.

"You!" Draco managed to get out. He calmed himself and took a deep breath to keep from laughing out again. "Single parent? Pregnant? Boy, are you a fast thinker!"

Ron fought to not stick out his tongue out at his sister's lover. "Well she could be, can't she?"

Draco smirked. "Have you heard of contraceptives lately, Weasley? I think you would have, since you're a Weasley too and Hermione's still on baby lust," Ron flushed. "And don't tell me you two don't shag!"

"Of course we do!" Ron blurted out, flushing even more. "And of course I know about contraceptives you dope!"

"So, you'll know Ginny can't be pregnant because we take extra care whenever we…do it," Draco winked at Ron suggestively. "Although we sometimes almost forget. You know, once you're in heat and all…"

For the second time, Ron wondered what sin he did before to deserve hearing this kind of talk. That's it, Malfoy was officially on the list and if it were only possible, he would have turned redder. Instead, he choked at hearing Malfoy and his sister's activities. Although one part of him wanted to punch the guy for touching his sister, another part had already accepted the fact that Draco might be his only sister's husband in the future. Ron would never admit it, not even to Hermione, that he was hoping Draco would marry Ginny. He trusted the guy and he knows Malfoy cares for her a lot. And besides, he would rather have Malfoy as a brother-in-law rather than the other wimps Ginny dates occasionally. They were all thin and vain and…feminine. However that did not mean he wanted to hear how the two of them lose control while...in heat.

"And if ever she'd be pregnant, I don't plan on deserting her or any child of mine. If your sister's not so hard-headed, I would have married her by now," Draco murmured bitterly.

Ron, interested, leaned forward. His 'cleavage' peaked out of his low-necked dress, catching the attention of a nearby costumer.

"Why? She doesn't like you?" Ron asked.

"No," Draco shook his head. "It's not a question of liking or not."

"Then why haven't you proposed to her yet?" he asked again, cocking his head in confusion.

Draco glanced at Ginny happily flirting with Viktor.

"Let's just say, she's not yet ready to be that involved with one person."

Ron looked at Ginny then at Draco's face as it contorted with anger and raging jealousy, carefully masked and unseen by the untrained eye. If there was one thing manning the mirrors had taught him, it was to have a critical eye tuned in on everything. Ron might sometimes be a shallow person, but his eyes were pretty quick to notice changes. He immediately felt sorry for Draco. "She'll come around, mate."

This time the look of surprise was highly evident on Draco's face. It wasn't because of Ron calling him "mate", but rather the unexpressed blessing beneath the redhead's words. He, Ron, had, one way or the other, given approval on Draco's relationship with Ginny.

Not that he needed it, or not that he would admit it to anyone or even to himself. But it was much more pleasant to not have a murderous girlfriend's brother running after you isn't it?

"Don't look so surprised, mate!" Ron said, in his soft Polyjuiced-self voice. "I'd love to see you suffer in the hands of my sister once you get married," he told him with a smirk.

Draco knew it was more than that. Ron was probably embarrassed to admit that he accepts the relationship. Draco wanted to thank Ron for a moment. However he didn't want to have an awkward, mushy moment with Ronald Weasley, of all people, so he smirked. "We'll see about that."

He turned to watch Ginny again. Viktor was talking to a waiter and Ginny took the chance to look over him, her eyes filled with worry. Draco raised his eyebrows, sensing her alarm, stiffening on his own. He badly wanted to know what was happening. Ginny looked alarmed and worried. Several spells came into his mind, all painful and directed to the unsuspecting Viktor Krum.

Ron looked on at the silent conversation between his sister and her lover. He marveled at the fact that they could so well sense and read through each other without even talking. Of course Draco might have been using Legilimens, but still Ron wondered at the exchange.

"What? What's wrong?" he asked Draco, who seemed to sit straighter. Ron knew something was wrong, he knew his sister well too. But what was it? When Draco didn't answer, Ron followed his line of sight.

A waiter approached and was serving red wine. Ron saw how Ginny eyed the bottle, with apprehension and worry. He wondered at it.

"No," Draco whispered, shaking his head.

"What? No, what?" Ron asked apprehensively, his 'face' registering worry.

"He's making her drink wine," Draco answered quickly, eyes not leaving Ginny's table.

"So?"

"Wine, Ron. Ginny and wine don't mix at all," Draco whispered urgently. "In fact, they shouldn't come within a feet near each other."

"But why?" Ron asked, looking from Draco to Ginny to Draco again.

"Ginny cannot handle her wine very well," Draco answered. He looked at him. "Have you seen her drink wine and got drunk because of it?"

Ron shook his head. "No, in fact I haven't seen her get drunk before. She's a pretty strong drinker you know. She can down four bottles of Firewhiskey and still walk straight."

"Firewhiskey's not a problem for Gin. She's used to that, yes?" Draco answered while motioning the same waiter that served Ginny and Viktor for the check. "But her system's not used to wine, right?"

"Well, yes. Actually Fred and George trained her to drink Firewhiskey. Wish they did that to me…wait. Are we leaving?"

Draco nodded. "Yes, we are. You go first. Hide yourself and drink this," Draco reached over and handed him a phial of De-Polyjuice Potion. "After you've returned to your original self, get back here and get Ginny away from the wine. Tell her your Mum's having an impromptu dinner or something. Just get her out of here. I'll meet you at the headquarters."

* * *

The CMI uses different kinds of spy equipment that both were Muggle and Magical in nature. While regular Aurors were given wands, maps, tracking balls and other basic instruments, CMI Aurors invented their own. There was, for example the CMI ferns. They were regular ferns on the outside, but Ginny, who was as brilliant as Neville was with Herbology, charmed the plants to have 'eyes' and act as surveillance cameras. Feedbacks from those ferns were transmitted to mirrors that Blaise had charmed. These mirrors were manned by Ron.

De-Polyjuice Potion was another brilliant invention, this time by Draco. It countered the effects of Polyjuice Potion so one can transform back into his original image without waiting for the Polyjuice's effects to wear off.

Another still great thought came from Blaise. He had thought of charming micro-ear and mouth pieces to record sound and playback instantly with the use of a shell instead of a computer.

And that's where Harry Potter could be spotted right now: in front of a shell, listening to the conversation of Ginny with Viktor and Draco with Ron.

Harry was laughing quite hysterically too. He would have paid to see this: Draco surprised at Ron's knowledge of his oh-so-secret relationship with Ginny; Ron's face when he heard Draco's 'activities' with his one and only sister Ginny; and Ginny getting rowdy because of the wine.

From what he overheard, Ron was now getting Ginny out of the restaurant, and Malfoy was on his way to the office, on feet because no one can directly Apparate, nor Floo, to the CMI headquarters.

"Malfoy," he spoke to Draco's shell, for the first time talking to any of them since the beginning of the mission. It wasn't Harry's way to talk to his Aurors while they were on missions.

"What?" Draco, whom Harry knew was pissed off, said to him snappishly.

"Was it a good idea to leave Ron to handle his sister back here?" Harry asked. Ron would also come over by feet so it would be hard for him to control Ginny on the way.

"Yes," came the clipped tone.

Harry waited silently.

"Oh, hell," Draco groaned and Harry sat back. He knew Draco couldn't leave Ginny like that even if he wanted to.

Ten minutes later, a very drunk Ginny, a very pissed off Draco, who had de-Polyjuiced himself and a very amused Ron walked in; arms tangled around Ginny and a string of profanities could be heard.

"Good, you're all here," Harry said, stopping himself from laughing at their form. "Let's sit down and—."

"Wine!" Ginny shrieked with delight and lunged at the wine Harry had opened a while ago. He had been eating while they all went undercover for dinner. The thought of them eating had made his stomach rumble on its own. So he had ordered some takeout and opened one wine from the CMI stack.

"No—!" Draco yelled but he was too late, Ginny had already downed the contents of the glass.

Now Ginny _had_ been a strong drinker. She was used to drinking Butterbeers and Firewhiskeys but her system cannot tolerate wine for some weird reason. She finds it sweet and would not stop drinking when she's had a taste of it. When she's had about four or five glasses of wine, she feels somewhat overdressed and forgets wherever she was _and_ undresses. If someone, like Draco wasn't able to stop her soon, she might offer the people around a free striptease. It's not like she can control herself because though she knew how she would be once she drinks wine, she could not stop herself from drinking it.

This glass Harry was drinking was full, as he had just poured it before they came. And this glass was Ginny's fifth, as Viktor had given her three before Ron arrived at her side. Her fourth one had to be begged from Ron and included puppy eyes and 'pretty please'-s.

"Out!" Draco growled at both Ron and Harry, who were now staring open-mouthed at Ginny, who by the way, was taking her clothes off.

Damn.

"Out, now!" Draco roared at the shocked almost-brothers. He turned and yanked Ginny's hands from her body. Her underwear–clad body.

Draco heard the click of the door and sighed with relief. He looked behind to see if they already left and seeing that they did, he turned back to Ginny.

Topless little Ginny.

Instantly blood surged through his veins and he did not need to look down to see his already excited member making his presence known by straining against his crotch.

"Oh no," Draco moaned.

This would not do. He had to get Ginny out of here before he decided to throw her on any flat surface inside the office and take her right there. No, it would not do at all. Her brother and almost-brother were right outside, for Merlin's sake!

"Ginny!" Draco cried out as she made to pull of her boots.

At the sound of her name, or probably his voice, her eyes sought his and she smiled sultrily.

"Draco," she purred.

She started coming over to him and he knew he would probably give in to her if he didn't do anything about it. Already his 'baby' was crying to perform. The last thing he needed was for Ron to walk in on them and ruin his blessing of him. Moreover he didn't fancy losing an arm or an eye tonight.

He spied the wine glass and lunged at it, pouring wine into it and thrusting it towards Ginny.

"Drink," he commanded. He then proceeded to gather her discarded garments.

A young lady could take so much wine and Ginny's limit was up to six glasses. After that, she's knocked out.

"Harry!" he yelled as he took his place beside Ginny, waiting for her to slump and get to sleep. "I'm taking the wards off and Flooing us both out of here," he took the glass from her hands as she swayed.

A murmur was heard outside.

"I'm going to pretend you're Hermione and let you escort my sister home, Malfoy," Ron's strangled voice came. "I'm serious about the marriage."

"We're leaving! And just so you know Ron, I'm serious about marriage too!"

"Marriage eh?" Harry cocked his head towards Ron as he opened the CMI office's doors and stepped inside. Malfoy and Ginny had already left, leaving the room empty. His half-emptied wine bottle was on the coffee table and a glass stood beside it, near the edge.

Ron nodded. "Yes. If Ginny weren't so adept in Bat-bogeys, I would have told Mum and Dad by now and arranged for Malfoy to marry her," he looked disappointed at that bit and Harry stared at him.

"You want Malfoy to marry your own sister?" Harry said, disbelievingly.

"Well," Ron shrugged. "He touched her, didn't her?"

"How can you be so sure?" Harry frowned as he made his way to the Head's table. "You haven't seen them, or anything…have you?"

"What? No!" Ron's face turned red. "The thought is enough to make me puke, Harry. Knowing it makes me want to Crucio myself. Seeing it…well I'd probably detain myself in St. Mungo's all of my life. Or get Obliviated just like Lucius."

Harry laughed. "Well yes…although I wouldn't Obliviate myself. Pansy would probably have fits it I forget to bring her lovefishes."

"Lovefishes?"

"Never mind," Harry waved a hand. "So, how'd you know if they did it or not?"

Ron shrugged. "I saw his boxers over at her place."

"You sure it was his boxers?"

"Grey with green silk lining?"

"Ah, definitely Malfoy's."

"Anyway, the fact is they did it. Malfoy said it himself. Haven't you heard from the shell?" Ron asked.

"I did, I just wanted to know if you saw them doing it," Harry grinned. "We can keep the thought on a Pensieve and show it to your parents."

Ron laughed. "And suffer Ginny's wrath? No thanks. Besides, Malfoy would probably not let us in his private boxes at the Quidditch Stadium this season if we do that."

"You're a Quidditch player Ron," Harry rolled his eyes. "You don't need the boxes."

"Yes, but Malfoy's bar at his boxes keeps the best beer, don't you think?" Ron grinned.

Harry nodded. "Yeah."

They were silent for a moment, with Harry shuffling through his notes of the earlier conversations and Ron, sitting on one of the sofas, appearing to be thinking deeply.

"What have we got Harry?" asked Ron all of a sudden.

Harry sighed. "Oh yeah. I forgot about that."

Ron chuckled. "Well?"

"Well, Ginny managed to get Viktor to take her with him when he visits Ivan Karkaroff two days from now. It's his son's birthday, I gather. Ivan's married to a Muggle. Anne is the name. They have a son, Aidan. Also, Ivan adopted his mother's surmane, Mlynoski," Harry answered.

"And I suppose you'll want to have two of us again to watch over Ginny?" Ron muttered. "Which leads me to ask, why the hell did you have to include me on that mission? Draco can handle it himself. I could have scouted some of the leads instead."

"Uh, yes," Harry nodded, grimacing. "It's just that I was afraid Draco might overreact and do something bad if he let his jealousy get the better of him."

Ron nodded thoughtfully. "Draco _is_ a jealous git. Although I don't know about letting get the better of him. He's usually cool about his emotions, I don't think he would have lost control back there."

Harry shrugged. "It's better to be ready. You heard his threats didn't you?"

"Well yeah," Ron sighed. "I guess you're right," he said. "So, who gets to guard Ginny?"

Harry thought for a moment. "I don't think invisibility potions or my cloak would be a good ides. And we certainly can't have one of you boys to be with her."

"Are you suggesting Hermione?" Ron's eyes narrowed.

"That, or we Polyjuice one of you boys again."

Ron thought for a moment. "I'll do it."

"You sure? This is not exactly a dangerous for you, so if you want to do it, I can let you."

Ron snorted. "I can handle myself Harry."

Harry smiled.

* * *

**A/N:** How was it? Sorry for the typos if there's any. you all know I'm no great grammatist so please do pardon them. Sorry again for the delay. I'm working on the sequel of Taming Ginny Weasley by the way, so I promise to fairly divide my time between this one and that one. thanks for those who reviewed the last chapter! Love you all! GOD Bless!


	7. In Which the Weasleys Concede

**Disclaimer:** J.K. Rowling owns the whole Harry Potter world. I just like to put them in other strange situations such as the one you're about to read.

**A/N:** Here's the next one! I did this in one sitting, so I think I deserve some chocolate for it, don't you think? Haha! Anyway, I don't know if you'll like this one. I just had a sudden burst of inspiration and I wrote this one. A clap will do, guys. I like this one, really. I hope you guys do too. There's lots of D/G here, although it's a little fluffy and mushy. Don't laugh please. Here you go!

* * *

**Chapter 7 – In Which the Weasleys Concede**

Ginny groaned as she tried to sit up. Cradling her head with a hand and pushing her body with her other hand, she squeezed her eyes shut before opening them.

Sunlight was already streaming in the open windows and dust motes could be seen if she looked more carefully. Looking around she realized she was in Draco's room, as everything was in grey, black and dark green.

She smiled.

"You okay?" a voice she knew so well filtered inside her mind and she turned to see Draco sitting up, back on the bed's headboard. He wasn't wearing any top and she needn't pull back the covers to know he was not wearing any bottoms either. He liked sleeping naked. And so does she.

"I'm fine," she started laying back again but jackknifed when she remembered something. "Viktor!"

Beside her, Draco raised his eyebrows. "Do I need to be alarmed that you're saying Krum's name on my bed?" he drawled, earning a glare from Ginny.

"Oh, shut it Draco! I just remembered I was with him yesterday, on a mission!" she looked at him in fear. "I didn't screw it up, did I?"

Draco shrugged. He stretched his arms up and arched his back before answering her. "Define screw up?"

"Draco!"

He grinned at her then and Ginny found herself being reminded again why she loved this young man so much.

"No, you didn't. You did great really. Except for getting drunk and stripping inside the office," he smirked at her.

"Oh no! Ron! Harry!" she gasped, hands both flying on her mouth. She looked at him in horror.

"Now I'm scared. You even dare to say your brother and almost-brother's names in my bed? While you're naked?" he told her in a mocking voice. "Who's next? Hermione?"

"Stop it Draco!" she swatted his arm. "You know what I mean."

"What do you mean?" he asked, reaching over and taking her beside him to cuddle. She snuggled up inside his arms and sighed.

Maybe if she could just trust him with her heart again they could get married and be like this all the time. But she couldn't. Not now. She was sure she would come into terms with it, however she doesn't know if he'll still be there, waiting for her.

"I mean, they saw me drunk? I remember seeing Ron and Harry last night," Ginny grumbled, pushing out the thoughts of their relationship. "What happened?"

Draco chuckled, his chest trembling as he did. Ginny snuggled closer. "You got drunk again Gin," he said. "Krum offered you some wine and you almost drank all of it if Ron hadn't stopped you."

"Ron? But how?" Ginny's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. Ron wasn't supposed to be there last night. At least not looking like Ron. He was supposed to be Margo, her Muggle assistant.

"Well, I suppose you don't remember but you signaled me last night and I saw Krum pouring you wine. I gave Ron some De-Polyjuice and had him pick you up," he said, tightening his hold around her. "On some pretense of course."

"Oh," was all she could say. Draco had once again saved her from humiliating herself. She cringed as she thought of what might happen if he hadn't sent Ron to fetch her. She might have offered all the others there a free striptease, or who knows what.

"Ron told Krum your mother invited you to a dinner at the Burrow. I'm just telling you so you'd know what to tell that git the next time you see him," Draco grumbled. "Not that I want you to see him again but I guess you have to."

Ginny smiled secretly. She knows just how much Draco despises her dating someone else. So this mission was a big sacrifice for him. "Thank you," she said, looking up at him with a soft look on her face.

Draco looked down at her and tried to glare. "That's all I get for not hexing him off his seat last night? Believe me, it took all my self-control not to."

Ginny giggled. "Did I ever tell you how much I love it when you act all so manly and protective?" she asked, touching his face. He captured her hand and kissed her palm.

"No, actually you said you didn't want me getting so jealous at the guys you dated," he rolled his eyes at her. "Or did I just hear it all wrong?"

"No, you didn't. And I still don't want you getting jealous over them," Ginny solemnly stated. "They're just guys I date, you know that."

"And me?" Draco asked, his tone changing instantly. It got more serious and he stared at her carefully, like he was gauging her reaction.

"Draco…"

"What of me then if they're just guys you date?" he asked again.

"Are we going to start on this again?" Ginny said, pulling away from his grasp and taking the blanket with her as she sat at the edge of the bed, back turned away from him.

"Are you going to evade answering me again?" he said, sitting straighter at the other side of the bed, staring at her back. He covered his lower parts with his pillow and wondered what will happen with this conversation. A part of him told him they would just end up fighting again. Another hoped for a different result. Something like a hug and a promise of forever maybe?

But Ginny's back was tense again and the atmosphere was much more like the other times they had this conversation. Those times all ended up with him or her walking out from an argument. Draco was tired of that scenario. He hoped fervently that this time would be different. Because each time they fight, Draco gets his heart broken.

"Look Draco, you know how this conversation always ends up. Why do you even bother bringing it up again?" Ginny answered after a long pause. Her tone was hard and blank.

"I don't know, maybe because I still hope to get a different ending to this conversation?" he spat. "I'm tired of you always evading the question Gin. All you have to do is answer it. What am I to you?" he reached out and forced her to look at him.

She met his eyes with her own watering up. Draco's breath caught in his throat as a tear fell down. He instantly regretted pushing her to answer the question. But he was really tired of this game. He had repented long enough, showed her how much she means to him in more ways than he thought he could and gave her all the time she needed to assess her self.

Draco wanted what Blaise and Harry have, what Ron was about to have. He wanted to get married with the woman he loves and have kids and live his whole life with her. But Ginny seemed to hold back.

Draco knew he hurt her a few years back by just disappearing on her like that when she told him how she felt for him. After all, he _had_ taken her innocence away and then left her hanging. He had to admit, that was the worst thing he had done in his life and he regretted it terribly.

He could see her again, coming inside their office back when they were still Auror partners. She had been on a date with Egghead, he knew. He was there when she accepted. Draco knew she did it with him in hearing because she wanted to make him jealous, make him feel he wasn't the only man she can be with. And he was jealous. When she left that night for their date, he had almost destroyed his desk by pummeling at it.

* * *

"_Draco" Ginny's voice permeated inside the dim room and he looked up._

_He saw her coming inside, clad in a white dress with her hair down. She looked like a fairy if she put on wings. She looked like an angel if she added on a halo. "You're back," he said, quelling the urge to run to her and kiss her like crazy. She was back, and he had been afraid that she would spend the night with that Egg guy._

"_Yeah," she said, closing the door behind her and walking up to his desk. "What are you doing here with just a candle? Are you alright?"_

_Draco wanted to shout at her, not to come any closer. He had suddenly become addicted to her smell, since that day they had first made love. Inside this very office. That was two weeks ago. Before that were days full of painful denial on both parts. And after that day were two weeks full of more denial on his part, controlling sexual urges on both parts, acceptance on Ginny's and decision-making on both._

_Draco decided he liked Ginny too much, but he was scared. He was sure he could love her. That means he could hurt her too. For what did he really know about love? What if he did everything wrong? If he did, he would certainly hurt her. He didn't want that._

_For Ginny, she had decided that she already was in-love with him. And she wanted him, more than anything. She decided to tell him right this minute. She felt that he was more or less feeling the same way about her too. He did, didn't he?_

"_Draco?" she tried again. "I have to tell you something."_

_Draco's heart thumped nervously. He knew she would confess to him right now. How he did, he didn't know. But he was sure and he wasn't ready._

"_I'm quitting," he said, before she opened her mouth and speak._

"_What?" she cocked her head in confusion. "You're what?"_

"_I'm quitting the force," he reiterated. "I'm going to France tomorrow."_

_It was true. He had been thinking about it for some time. And though he personally thought he was being a coward by running away from her, it was better this way, he deducted. They both just needed some time away from each other._

"_But…why?" Ginny said, staring at her with her brown eyes. "Why are you quitting?"_

"_I…I just needed to take care of the family business from now on," he reasoned. "My family needs me Weasley. I can't be forever an Auror. I'm a Malfoy," he finished._

"_But Draco…" she looked at him helplessly. "The force needs you. The ministry needs you. I need you…" her voice broke off. "Draco I—,"_

"_Ginny!" he stood up, banging his fists on the table. "No, don't say anything. You don't know what you're talking about."_

_She let out a sob. "But I do Draco…" she said. "I love you."_

"_No!" he shouted. He walked around the table and faced her. "You don't. You're just imagining you are, but you aren't."_

"_I'm not!" she yelled back, tears freely streaming down her face. "I'm in love with you Draco! So don't you dare tell me I am just imagining this!"_

"_You're not in love with me Ginny!" he slightly shook her. "Take it back now!"_

"_I can't," she sobbed. "I can't Draco. I really…"_

_He released her then and went for the door. But she turned and hugged him from behind._

"_Please don't go," she cried. "Please Draco. I'm not telling you to feel anything for me. Just please don't leave."_

_Draco looked down to where her hands were clutching his waist and his own hands found their ways on hers. She continued sobbing, calling his name quietly. Like a chant that prevented him from leaving her. But it scared Draco. It scared him so much that he wrenched her hands from his body and stepped forward, away from her warmth, and yes, from her love._

"_Let's stop this, Ginny," he said in a steely voice. "Forget what has happened to us. Forget me, forget this."_

_For a while, Draco didn't hear anything from Ginny except her heavy breathing. He wanted to turn around but he stopped himself. When he was convinced that she won't answer, he took a step forward. Only to be stopped by her voice._

"_Are you sure this is what you want, Draco?" she asked, her voice controlled._

This is it_, he thought. "Yes."_

_Ginny felt silent again but she nodded. Then she swept past him and stopped right in front of the door. Her hand was on the knob and her back was turned towards him._

"_Goodbye then, Malfoy," she said to him. "Good luck with your life."_

_Then she opened the door and that was the last he had seen her until he saw her picture on a magazine a few months later. Looking confidently to the camera, boring her eyes on his soul and telling him that he had just let go of the best thing that ever happened to his life._

"What am I to you Gin?" he asked again, shaking her slightly.

She shook her head. "I don't know, Draco," she answered.

"How can you not know? We've been seeing each other for years now, Gin. Tell me, is this relationship going anywhere? Or are we just wasting our time?" he asked her in a low voice.

He watched as her eyes sparked dangerously. He knew then that she was angry and he was ready to face her anger. He was tired of bending because of it, he was tired of going around and around.

"You dare ask me if we're just wasting time?" she spat, pulling away from him and standing up, covering her body with his blanket. "If you think this was all a waste of time, I'm not forcing you to go with it. You can leave anytime Malfoy. Besides, isn't that what you're great at? Disappearing?"

"So that's what this is all about? Because I left you that time?" he answered in an equally vicious voice. He stood up and grabbed his boxers from the floor where he left them last night. He put them on and faced her. "Are you not going to forgive me? Are you going to spit that on my face every time we fight?"

"You think I can forget that?" Ginny fought back. "You think I can just let that one go? You hurt me by disappearing like that, Draco! You hurt by disregarding my feelings so easily!"

"You think that was easy for me?" Draco looked at her incredulously. "You think I wanted that to happen? You're wrong. Because it wasn't easy Gin. And it certainly not what I fucking wanted!"

He was shouting now and she had begun to cry.

"Then why did you leave me?" she sobbed out. "It hurt so much Draco," she told him, voice cracking at her every word.

Draco turned away, not wanting to see her crying. He hated himself for making her cry again. But he knew he couldn't do anything about it. He wanted to stop the argument, let everything slide again. But would that really get them anywhere?

"I had to Gin. I wasn't ready to love. I didn't know how to and I didn't want to hurt you because of that," he said finally.

He felt her sit back on the bed and he looked at her. She was staring at her hands. His breath caught as he looked at her. "Well, I'm not ready for what you want Draco," she finally answered. Then she looked up. "Why can't you give me time? I let you go that time, didn't I?"

Draco shook his head. He rounded the bed and sat beside her. "And look where it left us Gin. It was wrong of me to leave you like that and I'm sorry I did. But—,"

"But you can't wait for me even if you've made me wait for two years, is that what you mean?" Ginny stood up again and he looked down at Draco.

"What?" he asked.

"You can make me wait but I can't?" se asked again.

"Are you doing this just to get back at me?" Draco said, voicing out what he was starting to conclude. "You're taking your revenge on me by making me wait too, aren't you?"

"What?" she asked, her eyes got bigger by his accusation. "Is that what you think of me?"

"Frankly, I don't know what to think of you anymore," Draco stood and walked away from her. He took a deep breath. "I see this would end up the way it always did," he told her, staring at her eyes and shaking his head. "Get dressed. Zacharias owled and said to meet him at your agency today."

"Draco…" Ginny's voice said as he walked into the bathroom to retrieve his robe.

"You use the master's bathroom. I'll use the other one," was his curt answer.

"Draco…" Ginny tried again.

"I have a meeting with my officers during lunch time. If you're going to the headquarters today, tell Harry I won't be available the whole day," he continued, pulling the door open.

"Draco…"

"What!" he whirled around to see her staring at him, eyes welling up with tears.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. "I'm really, really sorry. I just…" she held up her hands then let them fall helplessly.

Draco leaned on the door and sighed resignedly. Maybe this isn't just the time. He might feel tired, but can he really let her go? He stepped towards her and held out his hands. She ran towards them and they hugged. He pulled her closer and hugged her tighter as she sobbed. "I'm sorry Gin," he said, stroking her hair and kissing her head. "I just…I suddenly felt tired of not knowing where I stand in your life and…" he let it slide. "I'm sorry. I'll wait for you to be ready. I promise."

Ginny pulled him closer as she felt him stroke her hair, her back and kiss her forehead. She could hear his heart beating fast and it took her a moment to realize that her heart was beating in rhythm with his. Maybe it was a sign. Maybe not.

"Draco?" she called after a while.

"Mmn?" Draco asked, pulling away from her a little to look at her. He pushed the hair from her face and tucked the stray strands behind her ear.

"If I promise to not date anyone else besides you, does that mean we're exclusive?" she asked.

Draco's grey eyes went large as soon as he heard the words.

"I mean, you know," Ginny said, not looking at him. "Maybe we can announce that we're seeing each other publicly, if that's what you want?"

Draco's jaw dropped. After staring at her for a while, he hugged her, picked her up then twirled her around. When he put her down, he plated a big kiss on her mouth.

"Well?" Ginny giggled. "You still haven't answered my question."

"Are you kidding?" Draco laughed out. "Of course I want to! I'd love to!"

He then proceeded to kiss Ginny and it somehow ended up with him being late for his lunch meeting and her for her meeting with Zach Smith, her manager.

* * *

Pansy rolled her eyes at her friend as he excitedly told her that Ginny had finally agreed to them being exclusive. Honestly, it was kind of scary to see Draco this excited as he rarely ever did. Well, this was really the first time she'd seen him like this, and while she was really happy for him, she couldn't believe that she would see Draco excited for the first time because of this.

Well, she can't really blame Drake about it. She knew he had wanted this to happen since he got back from France. She was privy to what had happened between Ginny and Draco as she had seen how Ginny acted right after he left. And Draco had been one of her oldest friends so it was only natural for him to tell her of his problems.

"So I presume you've told Blaise?" she asked Draco from the Floo.

"Nope," Draco shook his head. "I couldn't contact him. No one's at the townhouse and he's not responding to my mirror calls."

"Oh, didn't you hear?" Pansy asked him, stroking her big belly. "Claudia's back from the Alps."

Draco's eyes went large. "Uh-oh," he said. "So I presume he's dining with her right now?"

Pansy nodded. "Seems like it. Luna Flooed me a while ago to tell me they were all eating out with the bad witch."

"With the kids?" Draco asked incredulously.

"Yes," came her answer. "Maybe she turned soft and finally accepted the rest of the family."

"That'll be the day," Draco's smirked as the fire cackled. "More like she's torturing Blaise right now by degrading his family."

Pansy shook her head. "I can't believe that bint is still on Blaise's case. I mean, it has been three years, isn't it?"

Draco nodded. "Well, Claudia can call Luna anything she liked and she can ignore the triplets all she wants but I doubt Blaise would let her ruin his family."

"Oh, I hate that woman!" Pansy shivered. "Remember when she took our candies away and broke them in front of us, saying we're too old to eat them? We were five, for Merlin's sake. I think she just decided to do that to spite your mother because Blaise was favoring her too much over Claudia."

"Well, it was her fault that she was never a mother to Blaise," Draco nodded. "If she'd been nicer, Blaise would have less problems to deal with right now."

Pansy rolled her eyes. "Claudia? Nice? The two words contradict each other. Would you believe that she tried setting Blaise up with a date yesterday?"

"What?" Draco laughed. "She did, didn't she?"

"Yes," Pansy nodded. "If I were Luna I would have hexed that woman to Never-Never Land. But you know Luna."

"Who knows Luna?" asked Harry. He had just gotten home and was now striding towards Pansy. When he reached her, he planted a lingering kiss on her mouth.

"Manners, Potter!" Draco spat, disgustedly. "Do you really have to make me see that?"

Harry laughed. "Hello Malfoy," he greeted him, sitting beside Pansy and putting an arm around her. "What's up?"

"We're just talking about Claudia Zabini, love. She's back in town," she told her husband.

Harry's eyes mimicked Draco as they too went large. "She is?"

"Yes, and apparently, causing havoc to Blaise's quiet family life," Draco interjected.

Harry nodded solemnly. "That's why he wasn't around the headquarters? And why he wasn't taking mirror calls?"

"Yes, I guess that why," Draco nodded.

"And where have you been?" Harry asked Draco. "You guys abandoned me, letting me listen all afternoon to the two almost-weds alone."

Draco grinned at him. "Oh, so Ginny hasn't told anybody yet?"

Harry smirked at him. "What? That you two are going public and exclusive?"

Draco's mouth hanged open and the couple on the sofa laughed. "How'd you know?"

Harry rolled his eyes. "You're newly-proclaimed girlfriend had went to the office earlier, skipping jollily and told me. Then in came Hermione and Ron, fighting. Said girlfriend slipped out of the room before the two noticed and before I can stop her. Said she suddenly remembered a casting this afternoon. I say she did that on purpose to leave me alone with Ron and Hermione."

"Ah," Draco nodded. "I totally forgot to tell her that Ron knows about us."

"He does?" Pansy said, surprised. "And what did he do?"

"He practically wanted to marry the two of them," Harry answered.

"Are we talking of Ronald Weasley here?"

"Yes, love," Harry nodded. "We are."

Draco laughed. "I guess things are finally looking up for me, aren't they?"

"That, they are," Harry nodded again.

"Well, then I guess I better leave the two of you alone and let you be disgustingly kinky with each other," he smirked.

"You are a hypocrite, Draco Malfoy," Pansy laughed. "As if you and Ginny aren't disgustingly kinky with each other too."

"You're right, we are," Draco winked.

When he was gone, Harry turned to Pansy and kissed her again. "So, is the term 'disgustingly kinky' a secret code of Slytherins for having sex?"

Pansy smirked at him. "No."

"No, as in it's not a code?"

"No, as in it's not_ only_ a code for sex," she smiled naughtily.

"Oh," Harry nodded. "Then what's it really for?"

"Do have my lovefishes yet?" asked Pansy.

Harry groaned. He hoped that she would forget all about them. He had been sleeping on the spare room for days because he still wasn't able to bring a pair home.

"Well, that's too bad then," Pansy said, grinning teasingly. "I guess I'll have to show you what 'disgustingly kinky' is some other time. _When_ you have my lovefishes."

* * *

Blaise stared at his mother as she continued to grill his wife in front of him and his children. He gritted his teeth as Claudia Zabini repeatedly got Luna's name deliberately wrong. She called her Loony Lovegood, instead of Luna Zabini and it was taking all his filial respect to keep from shutting his mother up.

The triplets were practically ignored, except when Claudia found fault in their ways and Blaise controlled himself.

_This is my mother_, he repeated to himself.

"Loony, dear," his mother said in her snotty, snobbish voice. "Didn't you ever teach your children how to eat properly? They're smearing the table cloth with their mess."

Blaise gritted his teeth and gripped his knife. His sons were three-year-olds who of course didn't know how to eat steak on their own. Luna and him tried to cut their food for them but Claudia said that they were spoiling their kids too much. Byron, smart that he was, stabbed his meat and bit directly on it, and received a minute of tongue lashing from the old witch. Adam took to ignoring the meat altogether and sat there, staring at his food and not touching anything. Jordan wasn't eating anything too and glared at his grandmother in a way that would have made Draco, his godfather, proud. He had seen Uncle Draco do it to people before and they shut up instantly. Now, if this mean, old lady just look at his eyes, he knew she would stop talking too.

"They're just kids, Mother," Blaise spat. "They still have some difficulty eating _steak_," he emphasized.

Luna smiled at Claudia serenely and said, "They love eating steak, Mother. They just have some difficulty eating steak while it's still attached to the bone."

"Well, it's time these rascals learn how to eat steak properly," Claudia sniffed.

"We're not rascals!" Byron demanded.

Claudia gasped and Blaise secretly cheered. "How rude! Did you just hear what this…spawn of yours just said to me?"

"Yes, I heard Mother," Blaise nodded blankly.

"Mum, what's a spawn?" Adam, who was sitting next to Luna whispered to his mother.

"Oh, just another name for a baby, dear," Luna smiled at him reassuringly. Adam frowned, he felt bad by the way the old meanie had said it, but if his Mum said it was just another name for a baby, then…

"Honestly, what are they teaching children these days? And you! Did I raise you to let your mother be insulted like that?" Claudia turned to Blaise.

"Did you raise me at all, Mother?" Blaise shot back.

Claudia gasped again and clutched her heart. "What?"

"I do not appreciate you calling my sons rascals and spawns, _Mother_. And stop calling my wife by some other name, it makes you look childish," Blaise said, standing up. "If you want them to respect you, you have to respect them first and earn theirs. Let's go kids."

Jordan, Adam and Byron all jumped from their seats. Luna stood up and smiled at Claudia Zabini again. "It was nice to see you again, Mother. Oh, and might I add that that dress of yours look horrible for your complexion? See you then."

Claudia stared at the retreating form of her son and his family. One of the twins turned around, the one who had been silently glaring at her all throughout dinner. Jacob? John? Well, the little imp turned around and stuck out his tongue at her.

Ron regarded Hermione with seriousness as she continued to turn the page of her Witchouse Magazine. They had just fought and had now taken to ignoring each other to prevent further arguments.

Ron sometimes wondered if Hermione and him were fit to marry. They fought almost everyday, sometimes over tiny things such as the light in the bathroom, and more recently, the prospect of having a baby.

He knew his fiancée wanted to have a baby. Why else would she purchase a whole room full of baby stuff and subscribe to Witchouse, the leading mother and baby magazine in all of the Magical World?

The truth was he too wanted a baby. But he was too scared to actually have one. What does he know of babies? Sure he held some of them before. He also tried making them drink milk before. But what about changing diapers? Giving them baths? He didn't know how to do that. How was he going to have one then?

And yes, he is extremely envious of Blaise, Harry and his other brothers because they have children of their own.

Ron was afraid, and he knows that Hermione knew that. Why couldn't she just wait when he's ready?

Hermione stood up and tossed the magazine back to the rack where it folded itself neatly. Ron sighed again as he followed her out of the living room, ready to make amends.

"Stop following me," Hermione snapped.

"'Mione…" he helplessly called her name. "Look, I'm sorry."

"You're always ready to say sorry Ronald, when are you ready to give me what I really want?" Hermione spat. "I'm sick of considering your feelings while I hurt mine. I'm sick of drinking contraceptive potions and being careful with my period just so I won't get pregnant before you're ready! I'm sick of looking at your brothers' children and getting envious of them. I'm sick of—,"

Ron cut her rant short by pulling her towards him and kissing her fiercely on the lips. She tried to fight him off, but he refused to stop kissing her, until her resolve melted and she returned his kisses back.

He felt the familiar heat creep down to his loins and he wrenched his lips from hers. Ron and Hermione took deep breaths, leaning against each other's foreheads.

"I'm sorry, 'Mione," he told his fiancée once he caught his breath.

Hermione closed her eyes and hugged him. "I'm sorry too, Ron. It's just I so badly want a baby," she said.

"Do you really?" he asked her. He knew her answer well enough. The truth was he was asking himself.

"Yes,"

_Yes_, said his own mind.

He gazed at her eyes then. And he saw the longing in them.

"I don't promise to get you pregnant right after this though," Ron teased. "You'd have to wait."

Hermione's eyes grew large and she hugged him tight.

"I love you Ronald Weasley!" she laughed.

Ronald grinned. To hell with changing diapers anyway. He's marrying a know-it-all anyway, she can always help him understand.

**A/N:** Yey, now that everything's all right, I can get to writing about were our convicts are. 'Til then! GOD Bless!


	8. The Mlynoskis

**Disclaimer: **J.K. Rowling owns the whole Harry Potter world. I just like to put them in other strange situations such as the one you're about to read.

**A/N:** No, I haven't given this fic up. It's just hard for me to make time long enough to get writing to it. And I'm really having trouble making this fic go to the place where I like it to go. I need fresh ideas. It's like I've hit a brick wall. I'm really sorry for the super late update. But since the Holidays are coming and Christmas break is just a few days away for me, I think I'll have more time to work on this and GGW. I'm not making any promises though. I'm really sorry for this chapter. I absolutely do not like this one personally, but it's the best I can come up so far. It's one of those hard chapters to write and my WB stuck to me like a barnacle all the time I was writing this. I hope you forgive me. Recommendations would be nice.

* * *

**Chapter 8 - The Mlynoskis**

Blaise continued to sip his drink delicately, as Ginny would have done if she was the one drinking. He smiled at Viktor Krum who was talking to him presently, and nodded at what he said.

"I agree," he said in Ginny's voice. "They should let him play if he wants to. After all the Healer said he's fit to play for the next game." He flipped Ginny's red hair over his shoulders.

"See!" Viktor boomed in his deep voice. He turned to Ron. "You're a Healer, aren't you Hermione? What do you think?"

Ron, who was Hermione that day smiled tightly at Viktor, but the Bulgarian did not notice. "I think he can survive the game if he stops doing those unnecessary Humpback flips he does when he scores."

Viktor laughed and took 'Hermione's' hand and patted it. Ron gritted his teeth.

Blaise noticed that Ron was close to blowing his top and decided to step in before he does. Sending a warning glance at Ron, he smiled at Viktor afterwards and engaged him in another round of Quidditch related chats.

Personally, Blaise would have stopped discussing Quidditch with Viktor. He was a player of the sport and Blaise wasn't. Ron would have done a better job than him but Blaise knew Ron hated Viktor more than life itself.

Of the six of them, Ron does the weakest impersonations. That's because he can't wait to get into action, and action for Ronald Weasley does not including being contorted into someone else's body. More so if the impersonation includes designer dresses and heels. Action for Ronald is running after criminals and hexing them into oblivion.

Actually, while he does not like going undercover that much, Ron casts the best protection spells than any of them. Even Draco is amazed by it. Not that he admits that out loud.

They continued to mingle with Viktor and several of his friends while looking after Ivan Mlynoski and his family. Blaise and Ron were at Ivan's son's birthday party. They had met the man earlier, when they'd arrived and Blaise could see the striking resemblance of Igor and Ivan. Ivan Mlynoski looks like a younger Igor with a friendlier face and a warm aura. He has a deep voice and a ready smile. Blaise has always been a good judge of character and he saw how this guy would never fit in to the Death Eaters ring.

He spotted Ivan's wife Anne and smiled to himself. The Muggle was shorter than Ivan but really energetic and lively. From what Ginny had gathered from Viktor, Anne knew that Ivan was a Wizard, but he had never exercised it in front of her before. Behind Anne was Aidan, their son. He looked like his father, and Blaise remembered his own sons. They should be at the Burrow by now, as Luna was away in a conference in France and Molly had agreed to watch them until tomorrow.

You'd think Claudia Zabini would be his first choice to look after his sons. After all, she is still his mother, isn't she? But ever since he had met Molly, the plump woman had made him feel what it feels like to have a real mother in just their first meeting.

Thinking of Claudia the Cow, as he and Draco secretly refers to her, made him scowl and remember the dinner they had with his family. He'd have to talk to his mother real soon. All those owls of dates he apparently stood up are bound to take a toll in his relationship with Luna. Why can't his mother just accept that he's already married and is out of the dating circuit for good?

Blaise sighed. Now is not the time to think about it. In the CMI, he and Ginny pull off the best impersonations. He has to stay focused, and thinking about his mother is not the best way to do it.

"Dad, look!" said a small voice from Blaise's right. It must be Ivan's son, Aidan. "It's that yellow squirrel again."

Ron and Blaise both whirled around in alarm when they heard of what the boy said. They looked at where the boy was pointing at and sure enough, there was a yellow and brown squirrel perched on a tree. Anyone would have thought it a normal squirrel but the Aurors' eyes were more trained to notice the little details on a certain thing. In this case, a certain animal.

When a person turns into his Animagus form, he retains some of his human features. Like Professor McGonagall, who turns into a tabby with dark rims around her eyes. It's because she has those dark-rimmed spectacles perched eternally on her nose when she's human.

Ron and Blaise both noticed that the squirrel had a yellow tuft on its head and immediately looked at each other.

_Alecto Carrow_.

Blaise and Ron continued to watch the squirrel. It abnormally just stays on its spot, not moving a muscle and not even twitching as the wind blew. Which was another abnormality.

"I'm checking the other side of the house," said Ron, taking Blaise aside. "I think there might be more of them here. That bloody squirrel's not moving, I think somebody else is manning the other side."

Blaise nodded and continued to watch the squirrel.

His mind whirled to think of a plan. He needed to speak to Ivan and his family first. He also needed to speak to Harry. Luckily the party was ending and less people were around.

"Hey Ginny," said Viktor, who came by to Blaise's side. "Where's Hermione? I'm planning on staying here to help Ivan out. Do you want me to take you home first?"

Blaise shook Ginny's head. "No, I think I'll stay too. I need to speak to Ivan and Anne."

Viktor looked at Ginny with a surprise. "Why?"

Blaise flashed him Ginny's smile and said, "You'll know in a while Viktor dear."

Viktor smiled at 'Ginny' and nodded. "I'll tell Ivan you need to speak to him." And off he went.

Blaise shook his head. One smile from Ginny Weasley was all it took to send Viktor off to an errand. He didn't even ask or said please. Viktor just ambled away like he had been bid by a queen. Or in this case, a king trapped in a queen's body.

Poor Viktor. He'll be in a big surprise once Blaise drank a De-Polyjuice Potion. And poor Viktor again, when he learns that the two girls he has been flirting with earlier were both boys. Blaise Zabini and _Ron Weasley_, at that.

Originally, Blaise wasn't the one assigned in this assignment. But Harry wanted to be sure that Ginny wouldn't repeat the wine episode like last time and since Blaise was free that day, Harry gave it to him. But of course when Draco found out about it, he made Blaise swear that he would not even once look inside Ginny's dress and had him wear the damned dress before he transformed into Ginny.

_Bloody bastard_, Blaise grinned as he recalled how Draco threatened to take off his manly bits if he so much as to take a peek inside Ginny's bra. _Why would I even dare to take a peek? I'm married, for Merlin's sake!_

Soon, the party was finished and everyone left except from Blaise, Ron and Viktor. Deciding that clean-up time is not so much important as saving the family's life, Blaise walked, in a rather graceful, model-like fashion, and went over to Ivan Mlynoski.

"Oh, hello! Ginny isn't it?" Ivan smiled to Blaise as he tidied up a table. "Viktor said you wanted to speak with me. Can you wait? I'll just finish—,"

"Actually, I really need to talk to you and Anne," Blaise told him, offering a little smile and hoped that it'll work like it did with Viktor.

It didn't really work automatically, Ivan frowned a little. But the man finally nodded. "Seems that it's very important. Why don't we go inside?" he said, motioning to the house.

"Thank you. Can you call Anne and Aidan for me too? It's important to have them inside with us,"

Instantly, the man looked alarmed and went to call Anne and Aidan to the house.

Blaise went inside to wait for them and saw that Ron and Viktor were already inside. Ron was Ron and Viktor was…pale-faced, horrified Viktor.

"We-weasley?" Viktor was stammering, one hand on his mouth and the other pointing at Ron. Blaise noticed that the finger was shaking.

"Hello Krum," Ron grinned at the stuttering man.

Blaise laughed. "Ron, I told you to wait for me," he said.

Ron and Viktor both turned to him.

"Ginny!" Viktor jumped up and stood beside Blaise. "Yo-you're brother…Hermione…"

"Are engaged," Blaise finished.

"What?" Viktor turned to him. "No, no. I know that…but, they…he…"

Blaise took pity at the man. "Must you do that, Weasley?"

Ron grinned at him. "I couldn't resist it Blaise. It was too tempting," he explained.

"Blaise?" Viktor whispered in horror. "Gin?"

Blaise grinned at Viktor apologetically and said, "Sorry Krum. I'm not really Ginny. I'm Blaise Zabini."

Viktor was pale a while ago, but he turned paler when he heard Blaise's words. "_Merlin!_" was all he managed to stutter out before he sank into the armchair again.

"Hey! Who are you?" Blaise turned to see Ivan and Anne, with Aidan in tow, looking at Ron. "How did you get in here? Is this your friend Vik? Vik?"

Vik was staring at Blaise, not speaking a word.

"What happened here Ginny?" asked Ivan, walking over to Viktor's side.

Ron and Blaise looked at each other.

"Uhm,. There's something you need to know, Ivan Mlynoski."

Ivan cocked his head on the side, eyes flashing with alarm. "What is it? What have you done to Viktor?" then he turned to Ron. "And who in the world are you?"

"Uh…" Ron answered. "I'm Ronald Weasley."

"A Weasley?" Ivan's face contorted with surprise.

Blaise had asked Viktor to introduce him to Ivan with her Muggle screen name of just _Ginny_, as he knew Ivan would know who the Weasleys were.

"What's a Weasley doing here? And you? You're a Weasley too, aren't you?" Ivan angrily said to Blaise. "You're a redhead too."

"Well, uh…yeah, I'm supposed to be a Weasley, only…"

"Why don't I tell them what's happening while you change?" Ron interrupted.

Blaise nodded. "Okay."

Blaise went out of the room and Ron faced the other people inside.

"Well?" Ivan asked. He had moved in between his family and Ron. "What is the meaning of this?"

"Uh, Mr. Mlynoski," Ron began. "My name is Ronald Weasley, and that guy there is Blaise Zabini…"

"Zabini!" Ivan exploded. He crossed the living room and grabbed Ron's shirtfront.

"Ivan!" Anne shouted. Viktor snapped out of his dazed state and went over to Ivan's side.

"Ivan," said Viktor.

"Viktor! You dare bring Death Eaters inside my home?" Ivan growled out, anger lacing in his voice.

"No! I didn't even know!" Viktor told his friend. "I was as shocked as you," Viktor turned to Ron. "What are you doing here, Weasley? Why are you disguised as your fiancée?"

"Well, if your friend here would just let me explain…" choked Ron out.

Ivan and Viktor stared at him for a while before Ivan let him go. "Well?"

"Well, for starters, I am not a Death Eater," came Blaise's voice. He stepped in the room, looking like his old self, and stood in front of Viktor and Ivan, beside Ron. "And second, we're Aurors."

"Aurors?" Ivan asked in confusion. "But you're a Zabini?"

"Yes, yes…" Blaise waved his hand in dismissal of the topic. "Can we sit? Wearing high-heels is tiring Ron, how does your sister do it?" he asked Ron.

"I don't know. I could ask the same question too."

The two of them plopped on the sofa without waiting for permission from the owners. They looked up to see Ivan, Viktor, Anne and Aidan staring at them.

"Mum?" Aidan, who had just turned six that day, called out. "Who are they?"

"Oh, hey there Aidan!" Blaise smiled at the kid. "We're your Dad's old friends."

Aidan stared at him. "But he's angry at you earlier."

"Oh, don't mind him," Blaise said. "Look, Mlynoski, you're scaring your own son. Why don't you sit down?"

Ivan and Viktor looked at each other first then they all sat down. Ivan sat on the nearest armchair on the left of the sofa and Viktor took the other one at the right. Ivan told Anne and Aidan to sit on the loveseat near the fire, far away from the two Aurors, and this made Blaise and Ron roll their eyes.

"Okay, begin then," said Ivan.

"Finally," Blaise muttered. "Okay, I want you to listen to us very carefully, Mlynoski because this is a big problem. Your father had escaped Azkaban and…"

"What!" Ivan shouted. "What do you mean my father escaped Azkaban? What happened to the Dementors? Aren't they supposed to be keeping them all in?"

"Yes, but something happened and they had managed to break out of prison," answered Ron.

"What happened?" Ivan asked.

"We're not at liberty to say anything about it yet," said Blaise. "But the point is your father's out and we have reason to believe that he'll come after you and your family."

A tense silence came over the group. Ivan eyed both them like they had just both grown horns on their heads.

"We were sent here by the Ministry to tell you and put your family under our protection. But I think after what we saw today, we would have to ask you to go with us," continued Blaise.

"After what? What happened?" Anne asked in a small timid voice.

"We can't tell you here. But two of them are around here somewhere, so we better get going," said Ron. "Blaise?"

"Yes, here's the thing. We're already endangering our other agents' identity by talking to you in here for so long. One of the Carrows—,"

"Two, the other one's Amycus," interjected Ron.

"Oh great, Tweedledee and Tweedledum again," Blaise groaned.

"Wait, wait…the Carrows? Aren't they in Azkaban too?" asked Viktor.

"Yes, but they escaped with Karkaroff, Yaxley and Dolores Umbridge too," answered Blaise.

"How can this be…?" Ivan muttered.

"We're trying to figure out how they knew the perfect time to escape but now, we have to get out of here," Ron said.

"As I've said, we're already endangering Ginny's and Hermione's identities as Aurors. We have to get back to their bodies and Viktor would have to escort us out of here, like everything's normal. But before that, we have to contact Harry and get you out of here. There's no way we can leave you in this house alone," said Blaise.

"Where are you going to take us?" Anne asked.

"Harry? Harry Potter?" Ivan asked. He stood up angrily. "You want me to believe that a Zabini and Harry Potter work together? Alright, stop the games, who are you?"

Blaise and Ron looked at each other and both sighed. "Look, do you want to talk to Harry himself?" asked Blaise.

"How?" asked Ivan.

"Wow, you're more Muggle than I thought," said Ron. "Do you have Floo Powder?"

"Oh, we do!" Anne stood up. "Viktor insisted we keep a jarful so he can travel in and out of our fireplace. It's inside the yellow jar at the mantelpiece."

Ron got the Floo Powder and threw some in the fireplace. "Kingsley Shacklebolt's Office!"

A little while later, Kingsley Shacklebolt's face appeared in the fire. Aidan started clapping and Anne plopped in her seat in a stunned surprise. "Ronald Weasley, how may I help you?"

"Hey Sir, I was wondering if you could get Harry for us? There's something you and him should know. Oh, and Mlynoski demands to speak to him at once."

"Of course, son," the old man said. Ron looked at Blaise and rolled his eyes. _Son_. "For a while."

* * *

He had just come in a very boring meeting with some of his company's executives and it usually leaves him irritated for the rest of the day. He'll mutter all sorts of profanities under his breath as he went through his day at the office, cursing the idiocy of his senior employees and asking himself why he's working at such an office while his father and mother spent time having fun around the world. Then he'll remember that his parents deserved every happiness they can get, so he stops and contents himself with cursing his executives again.

But not today. Draco Malfoy wasn't cursing anybody today. In fact, he's smiling and that made his employees, the female employees that is, smile back too. The more wizened members of Malfoy Industries tend to disappear from sight whenever Draco Malfoy smiled. It unnerves them to see him without his usual scowl.

"Good afternoon, Olivia," he greeted the middle-aged woman who is his secretary. "Any messages for me?" he asked as he loosened his tie.

"Several Mister Malfoy," the woman smiled at him.

"Okay, fire away," he said as he plopped on one of the seats in front of Olivia's table.

Olivia Fenley had been in the family business long enough to make Draco Malfoy act natural in front of her. She started just after the war, eight years ago and has been Narcissa's secretary when Lucius had not been available to handle the company. When Draco Malfoy took over the company, he retained her as his secretary and she has been ever since. He had, long ago, that he does not impress Olivia Fenley in any way and she'd rather smack him on the head whenever he gets unreasonable. Which she did, once, when he had been in that stage where he was trying to take Ginny back by being an arse.

"There are four from distributors, asking for a meeting with you within the week," she started. "You're available tomorrow, but I haven't told them yet. Would you like me to schedule them tomorrow?"

Draco thought about it for a moment, then shook his head. "No, not yet."

"Okay," Olivia nodded. "Then there's one from your mother telling you to Floo her as soon as possible."

"Did she say why?"

"No, she didn't," Olivia answered. "And then the Weasley brothers are asking you to meet with them soon," she smiled. "Would you like me to schedule them for you?"

Draco suppressed a groan. Ginny had told her family about them yesterday. Personally, Draco had thought he would receive messages from them yesterday, but apparently they were in no hurry to tear him limb by limb. Well, it's not like they didn't know that something's going on between their sister and him right?

He eyed Olivia, as he knew she was waiting for him to answer. If he answers yes, he's quite sure Olivia would schedule them tomorrow and he doesn't know if he wanted to lose his private parts that early. If he said no, well, isn't that equivalent to being a coward?

"Uh," he stalled. "Are there any other messages for me that need my _immediate_ attention?"

Olivia dared to snort. "Sure Mister Malfoy, sir," she looked down on the stacks of messages on her hand. "Molly Weasley is asking you to come over today," she then looked up with an evil glint on her eyes. "Is that immediate enough for you?"

"Er…" Damn! "Anything else?"

"Mister Potter asks for you at his office," Olivia went on, a huge smile pasted on her face. Draco knew she was laughing at him. "Miss Weasley dropped by earlier to say she'll meet you there."

All thoughts of Molly and her sons were banished as he heard that. "Really? She was here?" he grinned.

"Yes," Olivia nodded, her smile getting warmer. "Well, what do you want me to do?"

"Hmmn…" Draco thought for a while. "I'll probably go see Harry first. Then I'll drop by in the Burrow later."

"What about the others?"

"Don't schedule anything yet. I'll see Harry first."

Olivia nodded. She knew something was going on with Mister Potter, though she can't be sure what. Her best guess was that they were doing something top-secret. She didn't know what, as Mister Malfoy never told her why Mister Potter's messages were more important than the others. But then again, her job description didn't include prying. Anyway, it was fun to see the only son of Narcissa fidget at the thought of meeting six healthy Weasley Wizards. And for that, she loved her job.

* * *

"So you mean to tell me that all along, you've been dating me to get to Ivan?" Viktor's voice sounded strained.

Draco opened the door to the Aurors' Meeting Room. He had received instructions from Harry to go there instead of the CMI Headquarters. He surveyed the room and found Harry talking with Blaise, Ron and a man he assumed was Ivan Mlynoski. To his left were Hermione and another woman who carried a small boy. Ginny was near them, talking Viktor with a lopsided, sheepish smile. He suddenly felt the urge to tear Viktor's head off, just because Ginny was smiling at him.

"What's happening here?" he asked. Ginny looked up and saw him, her smile getting bigger.

"Draco!"

Groans from Ron, Harry and Blaise could be heard and Draco smirked before wrapping his arms around Ginny and kissing her thoroughly. _Got that Krum?_

"Oh please! I am scarred for life!" Ron wailed.

"Mate," Blaise was grinning at him when he stopped kissing Ginny. "I think he got the message already."

Draco smirked at him. "Good."

He felt a sharp jab on the ribs and saw Ginny blushing.

Viktor groaned. "I was used," he protested.

"I'm sorry Viktor," Ginny returned the sheepish smile again. "I really am."

Viktor nodded then glared at Draco before turning back to Harry. "Do I have to be here?"

Harry answered. "I'm afraid so." He told him. "You're in the know now and I doubt The Carrows would take long to figure out how we smuggled you four out of the house."

"It won't take long for Igor to know that we know, right?" Ivan asked. "How about my family then?"

"What's wrong?" Draco asked Ginny as she led him to the table. He pulled a chair for her then took a seat beside her.

"Ivan's concerned for his family's safety. He's willing to cooperate with us but he refused to involve Anne and Aidan. He's asking for Harry's word to keep them under the Aurors Protection Program."

Draco nodded. "What did Harry say?"

"He said yes of course. But he's having trouble convincing Ivan to put them in one of the Protection homes. He doesn't really trust that they'll be protected enough."

Draco nodded again.

"I'm telling you Ivan, they'll be safe in the Protection homes we're going to put them. We won't let anything get them." Harry argued.

They continued to debate about the homes. Draco tuned them out after a while and nibbled at Ginny's neck. She shivered.

"Very professional Mister Malfoy," she whispered at him.

"Savor it while you can Miss Weasley. After your mother's through with me, I don't know if I'll be able to let alone talk," Draco told her.

Ginny frowned up at him. "Mum?"

"She left me a message saying that she wanted to talk to me right away," he shrugged. "I guess she decided to execute me after all."

"Don't be crazy, Draco. You know she'll never hurt you," she told him as she rolled her eyes.

"If not her, then your brothers," he said. "They asked to meet with me too."

"Really?" Ginny thoughtfully answered. "The won't hurt you, don't worry. I'll come with you."

"And have them label me as a coward? No thanks, I'd never hear the end of it," he laughed low. "Anyway, I'm planning on meeting your Mum tonight. Depending on what happens here. I already told her," he placed a kiss on her forehead.

Ginny nodded. "I'm sure she means well."

They were brought back to the conversation when Harry shouted, "I know!"

"What?" Hermione asked.

"The Burrow!" Harry jumped up and looked at Ron, then at Ginny. "They'll be safe at the Burrow. Don't you think?"

Ron and Ginny exchanged glances.

"Sure, Mum would love it," Ginny nodded.

"Yeah, good idea Harry," Ron nodded too. "I'm sure Mum would agree. You know how she is. And I think I know the person to deliver Anne and Aidan to the Burrow." He then looked at Draco and smiled. "Aren't you supposed to be there right now?"

Draco glared.

* * *

**A/N:** See what I mean? Ugh, I'm really at a loss here. But if you'd help me, I think I'll make it through.


End file.
